Sancho Panza and Dapple

Landseer's Sancho Panza and Dapple depicts Don Quixote's squire and his beloved donkey — a rare literary subject in Landseer's predominantly Highland animal oeuvre. The relationship between Sancho and Dapple, which Cervantes treated with considerable emotional depth (the squire grieves genuinely when his donkey is lost), was one of the novel's most affecting animal-human relationships. Landseer's treatment brought his expertise in animal characterization to the donkey — an animal he had painted throughout his career with the same sympathetic intelligence he brought to horses and dogs. Sancho's relationship with Dapple embodied the simple, mutual loyalty between man and working animal that was a recurring theme in Landseer's work.

The donkey is rendered with Landseer's typical sensitivity to animal character, its expression conveying the stubbornness and patience associated with the species. The figure of Sancho is painted with comic energy that complements the animal portrait.