Home | Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
- CountrySpain
- Town:Madrid
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Year of creation:1930
- Rider(s):Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
Don Quixote is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. It was published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615. A founding work of Western literature, it is often labeled “the first modern novel” and many authors consider it to be the best literary work ever written.
The plot revolves around the adventures of a noble (hidalgo) from La Mancha named Alonso Quixano, who reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his mind and decides to become a knight-errant (caballero andante) to revive chivalry and serve his nation, under the name Don Quixote de la Mancha. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, who often employs a unique, earthy wit in dealing with Don Quixote’s rhetorical monologues on knighthood, already considered old-fashioned at the time. Don Quixote, in the first part of the book, does not see the world for what it is and prefers to imagine that he is living out a knightly story.
- Sculptor(s):Coullaut Valera, Lorenzo
(1876 – 1932) was a Spanish sculptor.
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Description:
The most important sculpture of Don Quixote, together with his servant Sancho Panza on his donkey, is the monument to the Spanish novelist, poet and playwright Miguel de Cervantes on the Plaza de España in Madrid.
Miguel de Cervantes is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language. The monument incorporates a stone monolith with several statues (including Cervantes’) and a detached bronze sculptural group representing Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
The monument in Madrid forms a very popular background for pictures of friends and family. Anyone who wants to take a picture of just the sculptures needs to be there very early in the morning.