A few weeks back, we brought you SalÂvador DalĂ’s 100 IllusÂtraÂtions of Dante’s The Divine ComÂeÂdy and menÂtioned that we were savÂing DalĂ’s drawÂings of Don Quixote for anothÂer day. Well, that day has come.
In the earÂly 1960s, a Swiss pubÂlishÂer comÂmisÂsioned DalĂ to creÂate a print ediÂtion celÂeÂbratÂing five real and imagÂined figÂures who loom large in the SpanÂish culÂturÂal imagÂiÂnaÂtion. The colÂlecÂtion was called The Five SpanÂish ImmorÂtals, and it feaÂtured sketchÂes of CerÂvantes, Europe’s first great novÂelÂist and his unforÂgetÂtable proÂtagÂoÂnist, Don Quixote. The book also paid homage to the medieval hero El Cid; the masÂter painter El GreÂco; and Diego RodrĂguez de SilÂva y Velázquez — someÂone The Met calls “the most admired—perhaps the greatest—European painter who ever lived.” CerÂvantes appears above, and the remainÂing quarÂtet below.
Don Quixote
El Cid
El GreÂco
Velázquez