The Museo del Prado in Madrid opened to the public in November 1819 as the Royal Museum of Paintings and Sculpture. The building was designed by the architect Juan de Villanueva in the 1780s for King Charles III, originally as a home for natural history, and it was adapted to hold the royal collection under Ferdinand VII and his wife Maria Isabel de Braganza. The collection built by Spanish monarchs over centuries gave the museum an outstanding group of works by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Titian, Rubens and Hieronymus Bosch, including Las Meninas and The Garden of Earthly Delights. It is regarded as one of the greatest art museums in the world and has been expanded several times.
Before and after
- 1 August 1819Birth of Herman Melville
- 25 August 1819Death of James Watt
- 13 September 1819Birth of Clara Schumann
- from 3 November 1819 to 22 December 1819Persian Gulf campaign of 1819
- 19 November 1819Construction of Museo del Prado
- 22 November 1819Birth of George Eliot
- 1820Founding of Indiana University Bloomington
- 1820Missouri Compromise
- 1820Oersted discovers electromagnetism
More in Art, literature & culture
- 1792Publication of La Marseillaise
- 5 May 1821Founding of The Guardian
- 7 May 1824Beethoven's Ninth Symphony premieres
- c. 1860sImpressionism
- 26 November 1865Publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
- 19 March 1882Construction of Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.