Fernando Selma - Don Quijote derrota o Cavaleiro dos Espelhos

Fernando Selma (1752, Valencia - 8 January 1810, Madrid) 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. 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, where he attended the drawing classes of

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

and learned engraving from

Manuel Salvador Carmona Manuel Salvador Carmona (20 May 1734 – 15 October 1820) was a Spanish engraver, designer and illustrator. Two of his brothers were also artists: , a sculptor, and Juan Antonio Salvador Carmona, also an engraver. Biography Carmona was born in ...

. 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, , founder of the

Academy of San Carlos The Academy of San Carlos ( es, Academia de San Carlos) is located at 22 Academia Street in just northeast of the main plaza of Mexico City. It was the first major art academy and the first art museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1781 as th ...

in Mexico City, 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 onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

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

Joaquín Ibarra Joaquín Ibarra y Marín, also known as Joaquín Ibarra, (Zaragoza, July 20, 1725 - Madrid, November 13, 1785) was a Spanish printer who was known for several important technical developments in the fields of the press, books, and typography. So ...

in 1780, under the patronage of the

Royal Spanish Academy The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) 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 ...

. He provided seven illustrations, the frontispiece for Part I, and some of the chapter and paragraph headings, after drawings by

José del Castillo 375px, The Painter's Studio José del Castillo (14 October 1737, Madrid - 5 October 1793, Madrid) was a Spanish painter and engraver in the Neoclassical style. Many of his paintings were done for tapestries. Life and work At the age of ten ...

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 (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. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literature ...

(after a drawing by Rafael Ximeno y Planes), Miguel de Cervantes 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 to ...

. 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 male ...

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

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

, from a drawing attributed to Titian. 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 (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

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 contemporar ...

and

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

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