Fernando Selma - Don Quijote derrota o Cavaleiro dos Espelhos

Fernando Selma (1752,

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

- 8 January 1810,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

) was a Spanish engraver and illustrator.

Life and works

He began his artistic studies with Ignacio Vergara at the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos de Valencia The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos de Valencia (Spanish language, Spanish for ''Saint Charles Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Valencia'') has been a Spain, Spanish Art school in Valencia, Spain, Valencia since 1768. History The inst ...

. In 1768, he was granted a pension by King Charles IV to continue his studies at the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

, where he attended the drawing classes of

Francisco Bayeu Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Commu ...

and learned engraving from Manuel Salvador Carmona. Only one year later, he was awarded prizes from the Academia in both categories. He was named an Academician of Merit by the Academia of Valencia in 1780, and the Academia in Madrid in 1783. His father-in-law,

Jerónimo Antonio Gil Jerónimo Antonio Gil (2 November 1731 Zamora, Spain, Zamora - 18 April 1798, Mexico City) was a Spanish engraver in the Academicism, Academic style. He served as administrator of the Mexican Mint and was the founder of the Academy of San Carlos, ...

, founder of the

Academy of San Carlos An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, appointed him to be in charge of the engraving classes at that institution but, in 1786, just before his departure, he chose to remain in Madrid to attend to various projects at the Royal Printing Office.Eduardo Báez, "La gran edición del Quijote de Ibarra (1780) Las estampas grabadas por Jerónimo Antonio Gil, Joaquín Fabregat, Rafael Ximeno y Fernando Selma", in ''Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas'', Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, vol XXVIII, nº 88 (2006), pp. 149-167. As an expert in

chalcography Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an inta ...

and intaglio, he participated in several ambitious editorial projects; notably the edition of ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', published by

Joaquín Ibarra Joaquín Ibarra y Marín, also known as Joaquín Ibarra, (Zaragoza, July 20, 1725 - Madrid, November 13, 1785) was a Spaniards, Spanish Printer (publishing), printer who was known for several important technical developments in the fields of th ...

in 1780, under the patronage of the

Royal Spanish Academy The Royal Spanish Academy (, ; ) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other Hispanophon ...

. He provided seven illustrations, the

frontispiece Frontispiece may refer to: * Frontispiece (books), a decorative illustration facing a book's title page * Frontispiece (architecture) In architecture, the term frontispiece is used to describe the Façade, principal face of the building, usually ...

for Part I, and some of the chapter and paragraph headings, after drawings by

José del Castillo File:Castillo-Studio.jpg, 375px, The Painter's Studio José del Castillo (14 October 1737, Madrid - 5 October 1793, Madrid) was a Spanish painter and engraver in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style. Many of his paintings were done for tapes ...

and

Antonio Carnicero Antonio Carnicero (1748–1814) was a Spanish painter of the Neoclassical style. In addition to his paintings, over the course of his career he also produced prints and engravings as well as creating theatrical decorations. Family and training ...

, among others. He also did illustrations for ''

The Conspiracy of Catiline ''Bellum Catilinae'' (''War of Catiline''), also called (''Conspiracy of Catiline''), is the first history published by the Roman historian Sallust. The second historical monograph in Latin literature, it chronicles the attempted overthrow of th ...

'' by

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (, ; –35 BC), was a historian and politician of the Roman Republic from a plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became a partisan of Julius ...

(Ibarra, 1772). For the ''Portraits of Illustrious Spaniards'' he provided the portraits of

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Spanish Baroque literature, Baroque literature. In the literature of ...

(after a drawing by

Rafael Ximeno y Planes Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California Fiction * ''Rafael'' (TV series), a Mexican telenovela * ''Rafaël'' (film), a 2018 Dutch film People * Rafael (footballer, born 1978) ( ...

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

and

Diego de Saavedra Fajardo Diego de Saavedra Fajardo (24 August 1648) was a Spanish Diplomacy, diplomat and Intellectual, man of letters. Biography He was born in Algezares, in what is now the province of Murcia. After receiving a religious education at Salamanca, he t ...

. He also worked on the ''History of the Conquest of Mexico'' by

Antonio de Solís Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ...

, in the deluxe two volume edition published by (1783-1784); providing the portrait of

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

, from a drawing attributed to

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

. After 1786, he contributed to the ''Maritime Atlas of Spain''. This resulted in his being criticized for abandoning historical works in favor of technical ones, to which he replied that he would rather provide images of practical use than ones to "delight the frivolous".Barrena, Clemente, Matilla, José Manuel y Villena, Elvira, ''Fernando Selma, el grabado al servicio de la cultura ilustrada'', Madrid, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, 1993, On behalf of the "Company for the Engraving of the King's Paintings", established in 1789, he reproduced works by

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( , ; late December 1617, baptized January 1, 1618April 3, 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contempor ...

and

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian Baroque painter, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious works, but al ...

, among others. In 1799, he was named the Court Engraver by King Charles.

References

External links

Digitalized works
in the Biblioteca Digital Hispánica of the

Biblioteca Nacional de España The (National Library of Spain) is the national library of Spain. It is the largest public library in the country, and one of the largest in the world. Founded in 1711, it is an autonomous agency attached to the Ministry of Culture since 1 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selma, Fernando 1752 births 1810 deaths Spanish engravers Spanish illustrators Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando alumni Artists from Valencia