Gustave Doré

Gustave Doré illustrated the 1863 French publication of Cervantes' "L'ingénieux hidalgo don Quichotte de la Manche," published in Paris by Librairie de L. Hachette et Cie. His designs were engraved by Héliodore Joseph Pisan. The same plates were used for an English translation from 1870, "The History of Don Quixote," published in London by Cassell, Petter, and Galpin. The English edition, with its vivid illustrations by Doré, helped popularize Cervantes' tale among British and American audiences.
This scene illustrates a passage from Volume 2, Chapter 10. The peasant squire Sancho Panza is depicted at the foot of a tree, pondering how to arrange a meeting between Don Quixote and his beloved princess Dulcinea, who Sancho suspects is a figment of his master's imagination. He concocts a plan to convince Don Quixote that an ordinary peasant girl is Dulcinea, though a spell has been cast on her to hide her beauty from Don Quixote's eyes. This plan eases Sancho's mind, and he decides to rest beneath the tree for the afternoon before returning to Don Quixote.