Don Quixote and Sancho Setting Out

Gustave Doré produced this engraving in 1863 as part of his famous illustration series for Cervantes' Don Quixote. The scene shows the aging knight and his loyal squire Sancho Panza departing on their adventures, with Don Quixote mounted on his gaunt horse Rocinante while the stocky Sancho rides his donkey beside him.

Doré produced over 200 illustrations for the 1863 French edition published by Hachette in Paris. His images became so influential that they defined how readers visualized these characters for generations. The same engravings appeared in an 1870 English translation by Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, spreading his interpretation across Britain and America. His depiction of the lanky, idealistic Quixote contrasted against the short, practical Sancho shaped stage productions, films, and public imagination well into the modern era.

Doré brought a romantic sensibility to Cervantes' satirical novel. Rather than mocking Don Quixote, his illustrations present the knight as the hero he believed himself to be, viewing the world through his eyes. This sympathetic approach helped transform the character from comic figure to tragic idealist in popular culture.