15 Incredible Don Quixote Tattoos

It’s tough to distinguish what’s more famous, the 17th century novel by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, or the 1955 artwork by Pablo Picasso depicting the Spanish folk hero and his trusty sidekick Sancho Panza.

Cervantes’ literary masterpiece is one of the most widely praised novels and is frequently brought up in conversations discussing the best-selling novels of all time.

A few interesting facts about Don Quixote: Don Quixote played a pivotal role in the development of the Spanish language. Don Quixote is considered the first modern novel. Cervantes came up with the idea for the novel while incarcerated. The Norwegian Book Club declared the book the greatest piece of literature ever written. View more here.

Although Cervantes never profited from the success of Don Quixote, he did manage to inspire a few tattoos. And what could possibly be cooler than a Don Quixote tattoo?

This awesome hat

Hamburg tattoo artist Susanne Konig displays her amazing dot work skills with this portrait of Don Quixote wearing one of the coolest hats ever made.

This dazzling duo

Rocinante was the name of Don Quixote’s skinny clumsy horse. This non-abstract tattoo is an excellent portrayal of what Rocinante looked like in the mind of Cervantes. (Photo: Fredao)

This iconic repop

This artist clearly tried to copy Picasso’s original lines as closely as possible, but matching them precisely would take an exacting level of time and commitment. Or a good transfer. (Photo: Michel Adamo)

This lower back piece

Picasso’s 1955 portrait of Don Quixote de la Mancha, his less than stellar horse Rocinante, his squire and friend Sancho Panza and his donkey Dapple, the sun overhead, and a few windmills. (Photo: Stephen)

This unique interpretation

A little color is always a welcome change from all the monochrome Picasso-inspired works. This reminds me of the horses from the movie Avatar. (Photo: CD’s Tattoos)

This full back piece

From the internet famous “Dan the I REGRET MY TATTOOS” guy. If you haven’t checked out his website yet, head over, it’s pretty…aaa…interesting? (Photo: Dan)

This Avatar-esque horse

Anyone know what inspired this design? I’ve seen it a few times so I have a feeling it comes from somewhere. Please school me. (Photo: Samantha Farfan)

This ribcage tat

Another fantastic piece inspired by Picasso’s Don Quixote. European art critics are claiming that the original drawing, thought to be lost, was recently found by a family in Tbilisi. According to scientist Dali Lebanidze of the G. Chubinashvili National Center of Art History Research and Fixation, the sketch found in the Georgian family’s home was done in a bluish green ink that would have produced a grey tone when copied. (Photo: Gabby Moore)

This unicycle rider

If you were scouring the web for a cool and creative Don Quixote tattoo, you can stop now. This funny tattoo of Don Quixote Dela Mancha gracefully peddling around on a unicycle is absolutely priceless. And for what we know about Don Quixote’s horse, this one-wheeled cycle might actually be a better mode of transportation than the clumsy Rocinante. (Photo: Dube)

This Spanish quote

Unfortunately it’s too small for me to make out. Perhaps someone familiar with Cervantes’ works can identify this quote. (Photo: ledermographe)

This spectacular piece

(Photo: Ana)

This sketchy crossing

(Photo: Khalil Rivera)

Sans Rocinante

Here Don Quixote can be see standing in front of a large windmill. In Cervantes’ novel, Quixote attacks windmills which he believes to be fearsome giants. (Photo: SaitMutlu)