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Lot Essay
THE STORY OF DON QUIXOTE
Alonso Quixano, a gentleman of La Mancha, lives with his housekeeper and niece and is obsessed with reading books of chivalry. Inspired by the heroes of these books, such as Palmerin of England and Amadis of Gaul, he becomes a knight-errant, both to increase his own honour and to be of service to the public. Having shined up his great-grandfather's suit of armour, renamed himself Don Quixote de la Mancha and his horse Rosinante, and chosen a country girl called Aldonza Lorenza, renamed Dulcinea del Toboso, for his ideal lady, he sets out on his quest. He is knighted by the innkeeper whose inn he mistakes for a great castle and succeeds in convincing a peasant, Sancho Panza, to be his squire on the promise that he will conquer an island and make him governor. The book relates their numerous fantastic adventures, some of which relate to the scenes on the casket.
CERVANTES
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), the author of Don Quixote, was the fourth son of an impoverished surgeon at the University of Alcala de Henares. He was born into Spain's golden age when Cortez and Pizarro conquered the New World, whose gold financed the military ambitions of Charles V and Phillip II, and lived to witness its eventual decline. Cervantes went to Rome aged twenty in the service of the Cardinal Nuncio Acquaviva, before joining the army and fighting against the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto where he lost his left hand. Undeterred, he rejoined the army and fought at La Goleta and campaigned in Italy and North Africa. Whilst returning to Spain with his brother Rodrigo, their ship was captured by pirates, and, sold into slavery, he was held captive by the infamous Dey of Algiers, Hassan Pacha. After many failed escape attempts, he was released five years later on payment of a ransom.
Upon his return to Spain in 1580, Cervantes began, rather unsuccessfully, to write plays for the theatre, before becoming a commissary, collecting food rations for the famous Armada, during which period he learned to understand the mentality of the Spanish peasant, which was to be invaluable for the character of Sancho Panza in Don Quixote.
Don Quixote was first published in 1604 and was an enormous success, with six editions a year. He started Part II in 1614, and completed it just before his death in 1616. Despite Cervantes' other popular works, such as Exemplary Novels and The Troubles of Persiles and Sigismunda, it is for Don Quixote that he is most famous. The story is poignantly influenced by his personal experiences, and Don Quixote shares the same strong sense of purpose and belief in religious orthodoxy and military heroism as his author, as well as meeting with comparable misfortune and disillusion along the way.
Alonso Quixano, a gentleman of La Mancha, lives with his housekeeper and niece and is obsessed with reading books of chivalry. Inspired by the heroes of these books, such as Palmerin of England and Amadis of Gaul, he becomes a knight-errant, both to increase his own honour and to be of service to the public. Having shined up his great-grandfather's suit of armour, renamed himself Don Quixote de la Mancha and his horse Rosinante, and chosen a country girl called Aldonza Lorenza, renamed Dulcinea del Toboso, for his ideal lady, he sets out on his quest. He is knighted by the innkeeper whose inn he mistakes for a great castle and succeeds in convincing a peasant, Sancho Panza, to be his squire on the promise that he will conquer an island and make him governor. The book relates their numerous fantastic adventures, some of which relate to the scenes on the casket.
CERVANTES
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), the author of Don Quixote, was the fourth son of an impoverished surgeon at the University of Alcala de Henares. He was born into Spain's golden age when Cortez and Pizarro conquered the New World, whose gold financed the military ambitions of Charles V and Phillip II, and lived to witness its eventual decline. Cervantes went to Rome aged twenty in the service of the Cardinal Nuncio Acquaviva, before joining the army and fighting against the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto where he lost his left hand. Undeterred, he rejoined the army and fought at La Goleta and campaigned in Italy and North Africa. Whilst returning to Spain with his brother Rodrigo, their ship was captured by pirates, and, sold into slavery, he was held captive by the infamous Dey of Algiers, Hassan Pacha. After many failed escape attempts, he was released five years later on payment of a ransom.
Upon his return to Spain in 1580, Cervantes began, rather unsuccessfully, to write plays for the theatre, before becoming a commissary, collecting food rations for the famous Armada, during which period he learned to understand the mentality of the Spanish peasant, which was to be invaluable for the character of Sancho Panza in Don Quixote.
Don Quixote was first published in 1604 and was an enormous success, with six editions a year. He started Part II in 1614, and completed it just before his death in 1616. Despite Cervantes' other popular works, such as Exemplary Novels and The Troubles of Persiles and Sigismunda, it is for Don Quixote that he is most famous. The story is poignantly influenced by his personal experiences, and Don Quixote shares the same strong sense of purpose and belief in religious orthodoxy and military heroism as his author, as well as meeting with comparable misfortune and disillusion along the way.