Se dirigieron al reino de la Luna

GUSTAVE DORÉ (1832-1883) (drawing);

CHARLES BARBANT (1844-1921) (engraving)

Barcelona, 1885.

Illustration of the work by Ludovico Ariosto: Orlando el furioso, published by Font i Torrents.

Woodcut on cellulose paper.

Good condition.

Even though the trip to the Moon was a chimera for a long time, it did not prevent many from making the journey with the only tools of their imagination.

The Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata was the great inaugurator of the tradition of fantastic lunar voyages already in the second century with his work True Stories.

In the XVI century, it was Ludovico Ariosto who made the protagonist of Orlando Furioso travel to the Moon, because the lost items of the soul were found there. Astolfo must travel there in Elías’ chariot of fire to regain Orlando’s good understanding.

Gustave Doré illustrates the lunar journey with the epic sense that those hyperbolic imaginations of chivalric novels demanded. Doré accentuates the spectacular nature of the scene by giving the spotlight to a majestic Moon that occupies three-quarters of the composition, while the chariot traces a diagonal axis that increases the sensation of dynamism.