Don Quixote 

Gustave Doré made this pen and ink illustration of Don Quixote in France, sometime in the mid-19th century. It is a visualization of a key scene in Miguel de Cervantes' 17th-century novel. Doré's image offers us two contrasting scenarios, divided into an upper and lower panel. The upper panel depicts Don Quixote's return home, where he is seen conversing with his family and friends in a composed, domestic setting. A crucifix hangs on the wall, a signal of the normative values of the household. Below, the tone shifts dramatically as the Don’s niece and housekeeper physically prevent Sancho Panza from entering the home. Doré’s image speaks to the social anxieties of 19th-century France, a nation still grappling with the legacy of revolution. The image highlights the social tensions and class divisions inherent in Cervantes' original text, but makes them newly relevant to a contemporary audience, long after the book was written. To understand this image more fully, one might research the history of Cervantes' reception in France, or look into the economic conditions that gave rise to the bohemian artist subculture in which Doré worked.