The Hispanic Tradition in Philippine Arts

The highest art is always the most religious, and the greatest artist is always a devout person.

Abraham Lincoln

Art plays a major role in identifying ones identity, culture and tradition. Religion is

the best art patron both in the Philippines and European nations. From the magnificent fresco

of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel to the grandiose retablos of San Agustin Church in the

Philippines, religion can be seen as a great art influence and backer. In the Spanish colonial

Philippines, roughly 300 years, Philippines became a great canvass by the Spaniards to paint

their styles and art. Art in the form of dance, painting, music, architecture, literature, theatre,

and graphics were touched and impacted by the Spaniards.

The colonial relations between Spain and the Philippines has been expressed in many

ways, the most controversial of which is: Without Spain, there would be no Philippines

(Tiongson, 1998). This is a typical statement regarding the arts of the Philippines as a whole,

Filipinos have no originality, everything that they had were taken from the west, and that were

good imitators and so on and so forth. Although some may say this is extreme, but certainly,

this statement is true. But through the course of history, Hispanized culture became filipinized

culture. Art forms of the westerners were transformed to an art that is for the Filipinos. It

became Filipino. Philippine art is surely influenced by the Spaniards but as time passed by,

certain changes were created to make it Filipino. This stand will be thoroughly discussed in

this research.

In the 333 years of Spanish occupation in the Philippines, the culture that was

accustomed to the climate, weather, and location of the country was changed to the customs
and tradition of the west. Though the ethnic art forms such as pottery, weaving and metalwork

were retained, the Spanish friars and the Chinese, the colonys primary trading partner, were

slowly introducing newer art forms (NCCA, 2011). Way of life of the Filipinos was never

been before, structure of government wherein competence, strength and knowledge of leaders

was changed to the purity of blood, from the leadership of the noble Datus and Rajahs to

leadership of the peninsulares and insulares. From the music of the nature to the sound of the

elites, to simple bamboo instruments to percussion, string, and brass instruments, and ships to

where the gales will carry, to big merchant ships exploiting what remains that should be for

the natives of the country. These were the changes brought by the Spaniards.

But as the symbol of strength of the Filipinos, the characteristics of the bamboo tree

(out of which Malakas and Maganda, who was believe by the natives where they came from)

flexibility, stability, resilience, rigidity, and the inner strength of the Filipinos were evident in

the shaping of these influences to one of their own. Indios turned themselves into Filipinos.

From imitation of Spanish influences to transforming it to the own benefit of the real owners

of the nation. The ability of the Filipinos to bend and be strong in their own culture and

tradition, that even though Spaniards feed them with new culture, they incorporated it to their

own. They created a Filipino culture, not a Spanish culture.

There were many influences of the Spaniards in the Philippines, e.g., Education,

agriculture, entertainment, arts, music, literature, manner of dressing, science, architecture,

Spanish names, etc. This paper will focus on three things: architecture, visual arts, and music.

This research will not only show and discuss these influences but will also incorporate to the

idea that these influences were changed to Filipino, instead of being hispanized it was

filipinized.
 Architecture is very evident in the context of Spanish influences in the Philippines.

Spaniards introduced their architectural models in the Philippines through adaptation to the

usual native settlements at that time. Their influence invaded in establishments of military,

religious, domestic, and civil architecture. They organized the town layout like a chessboard,

with the plaza as the centre surrounded by the most important buildings of the colonial rule

(Institute of Philippine Culture and the Society for the Preservation of Philippine Culture, Inc.,

2014). In the Ilocos Region, this type of arrangement is prevalent. One can see that the plaza

was located in the middle of the town and then the civil and the religious establishments were

facing the plaza and on the side of the plaza there is the main road. These were planned

prescriptions for building the ciudad and the ciudades. These they aimed to form into compact

communities modelled after Spanish Manila which had been laid out in accordance with the

Ordenanzas of 1573 ( Ordinales reales), or the Prescriptions for the foundation of Hispanic

Colonial Towns, issued by King Philipp II (Tiongson, 1998).

There were

two major influences

of Spain in the

architecture of the

country. One is in the

most evident,

churches, and another

Figure 1: Santa Monica Church in Ilocos Norte is in the houses of the

elites or educated/rich Filipinos.

 Although not seen in the picture, on the right side of the church there is the bell tower

which is the noble faade of the church, and on the left side there is the convento which was

the chief monument and landmark of the town and its standard of magnifescence (Tiongson,

1998).

So what is the churches filipinization or adaptation to the native circumstance or

conditions? Filipinos were known in their houses that can breathe, meaning there houses

(bahay kubo) was created for air to enter in and out. Filipinos are claustrophobic, in a sense

that they were uncomfortable in tight places. That is why there were many windows in some

Spanish influenced churches in the Philippines.

Figure 2: Inside the Santa Monica Church, windows were installed to provide ventilation

Similarly, the geographical location of the islands in the earthquake belt has shaped the

Philippine church in the style called earthquake baroque (Tiongson, 1998). It is where

Philippine churches were created to squat and earth-bound even though their style is gothic,

unlike in the churches in Europe wherein their churches were created to reach the heavens.

Although the churches in the Philippines were in earth-bound and in squatting position, artisans
successfully created wall murals that gave the illusion of space and depth. Also some church

faade were created with the nature of the Philippines, the European saint Christopher is

depicted on the faade of Miag-ao church holding on to a palm tree as he crosses the river with

the Christ child on his shoulder, with lush vegetation on either side of Him (Tiongson, 1998).

This only shows that the architectural designs was purely influenced but it was incorporated to

the lifestyle and the landscape of Philippines.

The pre-colonoial bahay kubo continued even during the Spanish period but assimilated

with the Hispanic tradition . Bahay kubo which is characterized by the elevated living quarters,

the batalan, steep roof and the corncern for ventilation. But soon as the economy and the

mestizo class rose, people were able to build bahay na bato which retained the basic cube

structure of its precedent but with its ground floor enclosed in stone walls. So called

arquitectura mestiza for its half-breed nature, it had added design features like volada

(outward projection of the second floor), calado (decorative cutwork), tabla (wide floorboard),

Figure 3 Example of Bahay na Bato (Vigan, Ilocos Sur)

ventanilla (sliding panels between the floor and windows), among others (Institute of

Philippine Culture and the Society for the Preservation of Philippine Culture, Inc., 2014).

Bahay na bato which is well-known for its ability to invite the breeze in the house was

combined or adapted with the stonewalls of the Europeans. They invited the breeze in the house

by installing windows on all sides and small windows. Also room walls were created with

carved wooden fretwork, to enable the breeze to flow freely from room to room and around

the house.

When the colonizers reached in the Philippines in 1521, The Spanish friars introduced

religious paintings in the Philippines to artisans, who learned to duplicate on two-dimensional

form. For the first centuries of Spanish colonization, painting was only to religious icons.

Portraits of saints and of the Holy Family became a familiar sight in churches. Other subject

matters include the passion of Christ, the Via Crucis, and the crucifixion, portrayal of heaven,

purgatory and hell.

But with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the development of the agricultural

export economy, natives attained economic wealth and became what was to be called the

"ilustrados," meaning enlightened and educated. That paved the way for Filipinos ilustrados to

sent their children to universities in Europe. The rise of the "ilustrado" (Filipinos with money

and education) class was inevitable. The ilustrados became the new patron of the arts. These

events paved the way for the secularization of art in the 19th century (Hernandez, 2014).

There were many works of art by the Filipinos, in the church in Paete, Laguna there

were two works by Josef Luciano Dans (1805- ca. 1870), probably one of the earliest recorded

painters in Philippine art history. Langit, Lupa at Impierno ca. 1850 (Heaven, Earth and Hell),
a three-level painting which shows the Holy Trinity, Mary the Mother of Christ, saints, the

Seven Blessed Sacraments and a macabre depiction of Hell. The second painting is entitled

Purgatorio (Purgatory) which shows the eight forms of punishment the soul passes through for

cleansing before reaching Heaven (Hernandez, 2014). Tagalog painters Jose Loden, Tomas

Nazario and Miguel de los Reyes, did the first still life paintings in the country. They were

commissioned in 1786 by a Spanish botanist to paint the flora and fauna found in the country

(Hernandez, 2014).

Secular subject matter in painting only increased during the 19th century. With more

tourists, ilustrados and foreigners demanding souvenirs and decorations from the country, tipos

del pais developed in painting. These watercolor paintings show the different types of

inhabitants in the Philippines in their different native costumes that show their social status

and occupation. It also became an album of different native costumes. Damian Domingo y

Gabor (ca. 1790-1832) was the most popular artist who worked in this style. Letras Y Figuras,

(letters and figures), a style developed by Jose Honorato Lozano, combines both tipos del pais

and genre paintings by forming the letters of the patrons name from figures of people in local

costumes doing everyday activities. It also utilized landscape scenes as background.

Several Filipino painters had the chance to study and work abroad. Among them were

Juan Novicio Luna and Felix Resureccion Hidalgo who became the first international Filipino

artists when they won the gold and silver medals in the 1884 Madrid Exposition. Lunas

academic painting Spoliarium won gold medal. It showed the dead and dying Roman

Gladiators being dragged into the basement of the Coliseum. It is often interpreted as an

allusion to Imperial Spains oppression of the natives. Though winning the gold medal, Luna
was not awarded the Medal of Excellence, the top award for the competition, because he was

a Filipino. The King of Spain, to assuage Lunas feelings, commissioned him to paint The

Battle at Lepanto. Hidalgo won the silver medal for Virgenes christianas expuestas al

populacho or Christian Virgins Exposed to the Public. The feat of Luna and Hidalgo caught

the attention of Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippines National Hero, that in a gathering of Filipinos

in Madrid, he gave a speech praising Luna and Hidalgo for their mastery and nationalism. This

only shows that Filipino artists can beat and even reach higher that the westerners. Juan Luna

and Felix Hidalgo only shows that Filipinos can reach the criterion of being a great artist that

before was only imposed to them.

Figure 4 Juna Luna's Spoliarium (http://www.ph.net/htdocs/education/spolia-2.gif)

Of all the new art forms introduced, the natives took to sculpture instantly. The carving

of anito was transformed into sculpture of the saints. These santos were used primarily for the

church altars and retablos. It also replaced the anitos in the altars of the natives homes.

Carvings for churches include altarpieces called retablos (usually with niches for the icons),
the central point of any Catholic church. The retablo houses the tabernacle and the image of

the towns patron saint. Usually referred to as a "cabinet of saints", one would see a hierarchy

of saints depending on their importance to the townspeople. The patron saint would be in the

middle; less important saints would be in the periphery. The most elaborate retablos can be

seen in the San Agustin Church in Intramuros.

Engraving was introduced in the 1590s by the Spanish colonizers. In 1593, the

Dominicans published the La Doctrina Christiana en la Lengua Espaola y Tagala (The

Christian Doctrine in the Spanish and Tagalog Language), first book printed in the country.

On it was a woodcut engraving of St. Dominic by Juan de Veyra, a Chinese convert.

The religious orders owned printing presses and printed mostly prayer books and

estampas. The estampas (prints of miraculous images) usually featured portraits of saints and

religious scenes. Estampas and estampitas (smaller version of estampas) were distributed

during town fiestas to the natives. Copperplate engraving remained popular until the

introduction of a new printing medium. Lithography was introduced and this facilitated the

printing of newspapers and periodicals in the country. It also enabled the printing of the local

edition of Fr. Manuel Blancos Flora de Filipinas in 1878 (Hernandez, 2014).

Filipino artists during the Spanish occupation were well-known in their different styles

and genres. Luna and Hidalgo first Filipinos who won international awards in painting, Jose

Honorato Lozanos Letras Y Figuras, became a known souvenir item for tourists in the country

of his time. Also the grandeur of the retablos in the churches in the country, also shows the

mastery of the woodcarvers of the country. Also the creation of estampas and estampitas was

handed down to Filipino artisans and they created a great job, making them the lead makers
during that time. There were many more artists that can be cited who became masters of their

craft, and these trait the adaptability of the Filipino people makes them unique to all parts of

the world that they can create their own craft based on what was presented on them.

Indigenization of traditions of the Spanish influences were not only seen in architecture

and visual arts, but also in music. Music, the synchronization of sounds, was used for rituals

and worshipping of gods and heroes, to drive away evil spirits, to invoke the blessings of the

good spirits, also there were occupational songs for fishing, farming, and harvesting, also

festive songs for marriage, birth, victory at war, or the setting of tribal disputes, mourning

songs, courting songs, and childrens game songs.

While there is no written information about the music in the Philippines before the

arrival of Magellan in 1521, reports made by friars and chroniclers describe the instrumental

and vocal music of the natives. From these documents, different kinds of instruments made of

bronze, bamboo, or wood are cited. These include gongs of various kinds of size and shapes,

drums, flutes of different types, zithers, lutes, clappers, and buzzers. Vocal genres include epics

relating genealogies and exploits of heroes and gods; work songs related to planting,

harvesting, fishing; ritual songs to drive away evil spirits or to invoke blessings from the good

spirits; songs to celebrate festive occasions particularly marriage, birth, victory at war, or the

settling of tribal disputes; mourning songs for the dead; courting songs; and children's game

songs. It is this type of music that is still practiced today by the indigenous groups (Tiongson,

1998).

With the coming of the Spaniards the Filipino's music experienced a transformation

with the arrival of western influences, particularly the Spanish-European culture dominant
during the 17th to the 19th centuries. The Hispanization during the succeeding three centuries

after 1521 was tied up with religious conversion. It effected a change in the people's musical

thinking and what emerged was a hybrid expression tinged with Hispanic flavor. It produced

a religious music connected to and outside the Catholic liturgy and a European-inspired secular

music adapted by the Filipinos and reflected in their folk songs and instrumental music. In

short hispanization was only at the beginning, but then because of the attributes of adaptability

and ingenuity of the Filipinos, it became filipinized. Musical practices that survive from the

colonial period were reworked, or invented, to serve modern institutional and nationalist

purposes, and work indicators of Philippine nationality both in the Philippines and abroad.

The life and suffering of Jesus Christ is replayed in many songs and processions, called

sinakulo. These processions are another location for the interaction between Spanish/Catholic

and indigenous habits, even in music. As Professor Corazon Canave-Dioquino points out in

her article: The welding of folk traditions and practices into Catholic rituals and celebrations

continued. This gave rise to many extra-liturgical music genres, many of which were connected

to the church calendar year. Some of these include the Christmas carols and the more elaborate

outdoor-re-enactment of the Holy Couple's search for lodging called the pananawagan,

panunuluyan,or kagharong.

It is an interesting fact that the Spanish missionaries were the first ones, who merely

tried to describe the music of the local Filipino people in letters and journals. It is not more

than 50 years ago that serious scientific research for the indigenous music of the 7000 islands

started. As many of the ethnic tribes still remain unsearched, we have to admit that the state of

research on this topic still is young. If we try to sum up Philippine Music during the Spanish
period, it is questionable again, whether facts of Spanish, indigenous or Arabian influence are

partially overseen in order to avoid harming the Asian touch of the Philippine islands. On

the other hand, everyone that travels the Philippines will mention the difference compared to

other Southeast Asian countries. And this is, what makes the Philippines charming for every

visitor (Stoevesandt, 2014).

Music of Philippines is unique compared to other nations music. Despite the influx of

Spanish and Asian influences, Philippine stood beyond all these influences that should be a

hindrance in searching for its Filipino identity. After almost 400 years of Spanish rule in the

country, a vast majority of Christian Filipinos have learned European music. By the completion

of the 19th century, Filipino composers were writing operas, symphonies, sonatas, concertos,

symphonic poems, solo instrumental virtuosic pieces, and solo songs. But they were adapted

and transformed to the social concerns during that time. Patriotism and nationalism to the

mother land was prominent in the plots of vernacular, or Filipino opera and sarswela, which

shows the opposition of the Filipinos to Spanish rule. Also the themes for symphonies, sonatas,

and concertos were often derived from native folk songs. Love songs, such as the kundiman,

were addressed to the mother country. In paraliturgical music, such as the pasyon, santacruzan,

flores de mayo, pangangaluluwa, panunuluyan, sinakulo, salubong, moriones and many other

similar practices were collaborated with old Asian practices. Evidences were healing rituals

mixed invocation to animistic spirits and to the blessed Virgin. Medals, rosaries, and statues

of patron saints stood side by side with amulets, food offerings and old coins (Tiongson, 1998).

Philippine music, though shelled in a western musical language, had acquired a distinct

flavour, resulting from a combination of Latin and Asian forms. Spains legacy to Philippine
music was an indelible European and this legacy was imprinted, fostered, adapted and

transformed into an expression peculiarly Filipino.

The search for an original Philippine art form maybe likened to the search for the real

Filipino identity. But as observed and incorporated in this paper, the native culture did in fact

prevail and stood the test of time for more than 300 years of the Spanish occupation in the

country. To comprehend that without Spain, there would be no Philippines is a partial

statement and it is certainly not the truth as according to the evidences of the adaptation and

transformation of the Philippine culture. It is evident that there is the participation of the owners

of the country, the Filipinos for their own culture and not only participate but they really

formed and created it their own. It can be proved that they only used the Spanish influences as

guidelines to enhance their culture and arts.

References

Corazon, D. (2011). National Commission for Culture and Arts. Retrieved from NCCA.

Hernandez, E. P. (2014). filipinokastila. Retrieved from tripod:

http://filipinokastila.tripod.com/paint.html

Institute of Philippine Culture and the Society for the Preservation of Philippine Culture, Inc.

(2014). Haligui. Retrieved from http://www.haligui.net/content/arkitektura-essay-

spanish-influence-philippine-architecture

NCCA. (2011). National Commission for Culture and The Arts. Retrieved from NCCA:

http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-

a/article.php?igm=1&i=171

Stoevesandt, I. (2014). Music of the Philippines. Retrieved 2014, from

http://daisyjanejavier.blogspot.com/

Tiongson, N. G. (1998). IGKAS-ARTE. Cultural Center of the Philippines.