Gimenez, Jose Mari

11222719
HUMAART
Spolarium: Another Take In Perspective
The Spolarium is one giant painted canvas, created by Juan Luna, which seems to
be the biggest artworks I have seen personally in my life. At a glance, I never knew this
immense artwork had thick bulging strokes detailing the edges and contours of the
elements. Aside from the physical aspects of the painting, the Spolarium struck me with
one idea in my mind. I thought of how death can be a means to escape the past life and
take on into a new person or being in the next life. Even though I am Catholic, I still
question about whether reincarnation is real or not, and I believe it could be a step in a
cycle of recycling energies in the universe. The illustration of people looking at the
middle corpse on the left side symbolizes the passing of what is left from the dead
gladiators life: what remains to be his physical body. Also, I observed that the man
dragging the body is an interpretation of direction where the soul of the dead gladiator is
moving towards the dim fading light on the right side of the artwork. This light represents
the portal, far away from the spotlight, of the next life the gladiators soul will be
transferring to. Death in this painting is epitomized as not the end but also a new start for
the soul to probably be reincarnated into a puppy, kitten, duckling, or newborn infant.
The Spolarium reminded me how the human body can be an unanimated object without
its soul. The soul is energy and a living spirit. Just what physics teachers would normally
say in class, energy cannot be made or destroyed, it moves from one place to another in
different forms.