Aureliano de Beruete y Moret

As the son of a Professor who was a founding member of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, he grew up being educated according to the pedagogical principles of Krausism, as did many Spanish intellectuals of the time.

He obtained his doctorate in philosophy and literature at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and soon began to publish articles on art in several Spanish and foreign magazines.

His essays and monographs included general subjects, such as The School of Madrid (1909), and studies of individual artists, such as Valdés Leal (1911), Velázquez en el Museo del Prado (1915), and Goya, pintor de retratos (1916).

The following year, he convinced King Alfonso XIII to issue a decree, changing the museum's official name to the "Museo Nacional del Prado".

He inherited his father's passion for collecting art, coming to possess (among other treasures) the preparatory sketch for the "Libyan Sibyl" by Michelangelo, which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of New York.