Doré Quartet takes its name from Gustave Doré, a French artist of the nineteenth century, known principally for his engravings illustrating the major works of Western literature: the Divine Comedy, Don Quixote, Paradise Lost, Orlando furioso, Perrault's tales, the Bible.

Doré's work as an engraver shares much with the artistic mission of a string quartet: both aim to interpret a literary or musical work belonging to an international heritage, making it their own through their own sensibility and artistic skill. Just as these literary works acquired a new face through Doré's transposition, Doré Quartet seeks to bring the invaluable heritage of the string quartet repertoire back to life through its own vision, offering audiences a unique and authentic interpretation.

The name also points to the European dimension of that work. Doré, though French, built his best-known work through an engagement with Italian, Spanish and English authors: a path that crossed national literatures to give back a shared heritage. The quartet recognises itself in this model in its own activity as well: a repertoire that belongs to the history of Western classical music as a whole, and artistic work carried out across the countries that produced it.