Don Quixote Musing Against a Rock

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 I, Chapter 25. Amidst the most rugged part of Sierra Morena, Don Quixote converses with his peasant squire Sancho Panza. Breaking the code of silence, Don Quixote imposed on his squire, Sancho asks Don Quixote why he provoked Cardenio, a madman who dwells in Sierra Morena, over the honor of a fictional queen in chivalric literature. In retaliation to Don Quixote's prodding, Cardenio attacks Sancho and a goatherd, whose escaping flock is seen behind Sancho's head.