El salvatge europeu / El salvaje europeo

When we speak of savages these days, the first idea to spring to mind is that of primitive peoples far from our European shores and supposedly beyond the bounds of civilisation. The origin of the concept comes to us from Greek culture, for which savage was a synonym for an imaginary figure, an ambiguous creature who was half human, half animal, and related to the gods. This exhibition shows how the concept of the wild man and the associated iconography has changed throughout history, but not the idea that savages are beings on the fringes of civilisation.

Images by, among others: Arnold Böcklin, Luis Buñuel, Albrecht Dürer, Francisco de Goya, Gustave Moreau, José de Ribera, Salvator Rosa, Cindy Sherman, Jonathan Swift and George Frederic Watts.

Authors: Pilar Pedraza, Roger Bartra

Related to The European savage