Don Quixote 

Gustave Doré made this engraving of Don Quixote at some point in his short but prolific career in 19th century France. The print shows us the hero entranced by a puppet show, unable to distinguish art from life. Doré specialized in providing illustrations for widely circulated editions of literary classics. Such publications played a key role in shaping popular perceptions of the classics, effectively establishing the canon as we know it. Here, the artist presents an interpretation of Cervantes’ novel that resonates with the social conditions of the industrializing 19th century. The rise of mass media and commodity culture led to anxieties about the blurring of reality and representation, authenticity and artifice. Note how the puppeteer's hands, rather than the puppets, are brought closest to us. Is Doré suggesting that we are all puppets of a kind? Art historians consult a range of resources – from critical theory to the history of publishing – to better understand how artworks reflect the cultural values of their time.