Cervantes is one of the most influential novelists in the history of world literature. Born near Madrid, the young Cervantes served as a soldier in Italy, where he was introduced to Renaissance art and Roman antiquities. In a battle onboard a ship, he received gunshot wounds resulting in the amputation of his left arm. After settling in Madrid, he wrote plays and published his first novel, La Galatea, a pastoral romance. His masterpiece is Don Quixote.