Don Quixote Suite Of 31 Engravings By Charles Coypel, 18th Century, In A Modern Frame

Suite of 31 engravings, 25 of which were made from the cartoons of Charles Coypel, for the tapestries woven at Gobelins (part of which is still preserved at the Compiègne museum), and engraved by Jakob Van der Schley, B. Picart, Tanjé and Fokke. The remaining 6 are engraved after works by Jacques Philippe Le Bas, Cochin, F. Boucher and Trémolières. Each board is captioned and numbered on the plate. It is this series of plates which have become legendary which fixed the iconography of Don Quixote for around a century. Charles Coypel was able to capture with great finesse the physical features of the characters and the grotesque situations of Cervantes' masterpiece. Permission to print was given on August 29, 1775. The engravings, on the other hand, were made much earlier, because certain plates are dated 1742, 1745, Coypel had painted several scenes from Don Quixote, then decided to have them engraved in a portfolio which appeared in 1724 before concluding this artistic adventure with a book printing, “The main adventures of the Admirable Don Quixote” engravings: 21.5x16cm (sheet 29x21.7cm) Modern framing and mounting under mat, 39x32cm exterior,