When the Prado Museum opened in November 1819,
its public was composed of three types of visitors:
On the one hand, copyists, who came to copy
the works of the great masters.
Then, those who were curious,
interested in the treasures of the royal collections.
And, finally, foreigners,
who wanted to discover the Spanish artists,
who, at that time, were barely known abroad.
In addition, there were also people who were not particularly interested in art,
but who liked to wander through the central gallery of paintings,
as if it was a continuation of their promenade
along the Paseo del Prado outside the building.
During the first years of its life,
the general public were only allowed in on Wednesday mornings,
except days of rain and mud.
Entry was permitted without any class distinctions,
but badly-dressed or barefoot people were not able to enter.
If you wanted to know more about the paintings,
you could buy a guide
with a catalogue of the works on display,
and that was the first educational resource of the museum.