The Ezpeleta Affair

Unveiling the Ezpeleta Affair:

Using AI to Explore Cervantes's World

Ángeles Fernández Cifuentes, Ph.D.

The Project: What, Why, How

What: Reconstructing the 1605 Ezpeleta Case

• Investigating the 1605 Ezpeleta case, in which Gaspar de Ezpeleta, a knight of the Order of Santiago, was fatally wounded near Cervantes's residence in Valladolid. Cervantes and his family were key subjects in the investigation.
• Using 3D renderings, data visualization, and AI avatars to recreate the historical, social, and personal context.

Why: Democratizing Historical Interpretation

• Creating immersive, interactive tools accessible to diverse audiences
• Exposing the judicial bias of the investigation and its impact on the narratives of Cervantine biographies.
• Challenging traditional narratives that marginalized women in Cervantes's life

How: AI and Digital Approaches

• Employing 3D renderings to visualize the crime scene and Valladolid of 1605
• Utilizing data visualization to analyze court documents and testimonies
• Creating AI avatars to bring historical figures to life, including marginalized voices
• Developing interactive platforms for public engagement with the historical material

Herramientas y técnicas utilizada

Methodology

AI IMAGE GENERATORS

DATA VISUALIZATION

Visual representations of the individuals interrogated.

Depositions formatted for data visualization analysis, in both Spanish and English Tools employed: Excel, Kumu.io, Voyant Tools

3D RENDERINGS OF MAPS

VIRTUAL AVATARS

Interactive storytelling for accessibility and for presenting balanced views.

Accuracy in interpretation by aligning historical documents with the physical layout. Tools: Lumion

Data Visualization

02

Detection of biases and toxic output

3D Rendering

Images

Maps

Physical Location

Calle del Rastro s/n,Valladolid (Valladolid)

3D RENDERING 1: Neighbor distribution in Cervantes's residence

3D RENDERING 2: Cervantes's Residence, Esgueva River, and Bridge by which the incident took place

3D Rendering 3

3D Rendering 4

360-degree view of the Cervantes's residence and surroundings

AI-Generated Avatars

Cervantes's self-description in the prologue of "The Exemplary Novels" (1613)

Prompt for generating an AI avatar of Cervantes (Shutterstock)

"This person whom you see here, with an oval visage, chestnut hair, smooth open forehead, lively eyes, a hooked but well-proportioned nose, & silvery beard that twenty years ago was golden, large moustaches, a small mouth, teeth not much to speak of, for he has but six, in bad condition and worse placed [...] a figure midway between the two extremes, neither tall nor short, a vivid complexion, rather fair than dark [...] this, I say, is the author of 'Galatea,' 'Don Quixote de la Mancha

​​"Frontal shot of an oval-shaped face man, . He has chestnut hair graying at the temples and a silvery beard with large mustaches. His nose is hooked but well-proportioned, with lively eyes. The man's forehead is wide and he has a small mouth. His complexion is vivid and fair . He is wearing a large, white ruff around his neck, typical of 17th-century European fashion."

Interactive AI Avatar of Isabel de Saavedra

Interactive AI Avatar of Miguel de Cervantes