the Louvre’s Salons did not limit or control their audiences through ticket pricing or hierarchical seating. Indeed, the Academy (at the king’s invitation) opened the Louvre’s doors to anyone who was interested in seeing the art. Free and open to the public, the Salon drew both the expected audience of foreign diplomats, aristocrats, financiers, tax farmers, rich merchants, and budding artists, and a range of so-called commoners, including laborers and servants. These working-class communities joined the fray, commenting on, interpreting, and evaluating the art that they would probably never
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