Art

in
the
Past
Looking at Art: Darangen Epic

The Darangen is an ancient epic song

that encompasses a wealth of knowledge
about the Maranao people who live in the
Lake Lanao region of Mindanao.
The Darangen celebrates episodes from
Maranao history and the tribulations of
mythical heroes. In addition to offering
compelling narrative content, the epic
explores the underlying themes of life and
health, courtship, politics, love and
aesthetics through symbol, metaphor,
irony, and satire.
The Darangen also encodes customary law,
standards of social and ethical behavior,
notions of aesthetics beauty, and social
values specific to the Maranao.
Meaning literally “to narrate in song” in
the Maranao language, the Darangen existed
before the arrival of Islam in the Philippines
in the fourteenth century.
Through the Darangen has been largely
transmitted orally, parts of the epic have
been recorded in manuscripts using an
ancient Arabic-based writing system. Being
cherished as heirlooms by certain Maranao
families, these manuscripts are highly
valued for their antiquity and prestige
value. Specialized performers of either sex
sing the Darangen during wedding
celebrations that typically last several
nights.
Performers must posses a prodigious
memory, improvisational skills, poetic
imagination, knowledge of customary
law and genealogy, a flawless and
elegant vocal technique, and the
ability to engage an audience during
long hours of performance. Music and
dance sometimes accompany the
chanting (“Darangen Epic,” 2016).
Looking at Art: Juan Luna’s ‘Spoliarium’
The painting features a glimpse of
Roman history centered on the bloody
carnage brought by gladiatorial
matches. Spoliarium is a Latin word
referring to the basement of the Roman
Colosseum where the fallen and dying
gladiators are dumped and devoid of
there worldly possessions.
The Spoliarium is the most valuable oil-
on-canvas panting by Juan Luna, a
Filipino educated at the Academia de
Dibujo y Pintura (Philippines) and at the
Academia de San Fernando in Madrid,
Spain. With a size of 4.22 meters x 7.657
meters, it is the largest painting in the
Philippines. A historical painting, it was
made by Luna in 1884 as an entry to the
prestigious Exposicion de Bellas Artes
(Madrid Art Exposition, May 1884) and
eventually won for him the First Gold
Medal.
Looking at Art: Amorsolo’s ‘Antipolo
Fiesta,’ 1947
This oil painting on canvas depicts an rural scene
where a group of people is shown celebrating a
fiesta in Antipolo. The main focus is on a pair of
dancers in the field surrounded by reverels both
young and old. Abundant food is presented in
basketfuls of assorted fruits on the benches and on
he ground, as well as the traditional roasted pig or
lechon being prepared by two men. Nearby is a
house with huge windows from where dwellers watch
the reverels. At the background is a huge church, a
symbolic town structure. A vast number of townsmen
completes the essence of a fiesta.
It can be said that the pair of dancers is in the usual
same pose as those of dancers in Fernando Amorsolo’s
various well-known tinikling-related paintings. A
viewer may be quick to surmise at a glance that this
painting belongs to that category, as the bamboo
handlers in the usual tinikling dance often blend in the
crowd and are not easily distinguished. However, there
are no bamboo-handlers present in this painting simply
because the dancers are not performing the tinikling
dance. Thus, this indication is what makes this painting
very unique.
Looking at Art: Tolentino’s ‘U.P. Oblation’
The oblation is the masterpiece of first
National Artist for Sculpture Guillermo
Tolentino. In 1935, Guillermo was
commissioned by then University President
Rafael Palma to craft a monument that would
express in visual form the second stanza of
Jose Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios” (“Last
Farewell”). The concrete statue painted, in
bronze stands 3.5 meters high (to represent
the 350 years of Spanish colonization of the
Philippines) on pile of rocks symbolizing the
islands of the Philippines. Funding for the
statue was raised through a two-month fund
campaign that garnered P2,000.
The model for the statue has been widely rumored
to be Fernando Poe, Sr., though there are sources
that claim that the real model was Tolentino’s
student apprentice Anastacio Caedo.
The original Oblation was unveiled in1939 in
Ermita, Manila by Georgia de Jesus de Nakpil, widow
of hero Andres Bonifacio. On the occasion of the
university’s 40th anniversary, the Oblation was moved
from UP Manila to UP Diliman along with the
administrative offices.
The Oblation shows a man with a man with arms
outstretched, head tilted upwards, eyes closed as if offering
himself. This is artist Tolentino’s interpretation of “that
sublime stanza.”
Each of the four sides of the monument’s base is inscribed
with quotes that speak of a willingness to serve and give
one’s life for one’s country. The front of the pedestal holds a
passage from El Filibusterismo. On the back of the pedestal is
the second stanza of “Mi Ultimo Adios,” and another stanza
from the same poem adorns the right side. On the left side is
a poem by Andres Bonifacio, “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa.”
Looking at Art: The Manunggul Jar of
Palawan
The Manunggul is a National Treasure
of the Philippines. A secondary burial
jar, it is designated item 64-MO-74 in
the National Museum of the Philipines,
Manila. The jar was found in Chamber A
of the Tabon Cave, one of the
Manunggul Caves in Palawan. The jar is
dated from about 2800 years before the
present. It was found by Robert Fox and
Miguel Santiago.
The Leta-leta Cave, Langen Island, El
Nido, Palawan was excavated in 1965 by
Dr. Robert Fox. Leta-leta Cave is an
important burial site belonging to the
Late Neolithic Period where an
assemblage of stone and shell artifacts
associated with sophisticated pottery
and nephrite adzes and axes were
recovered. Other materials include
stone ornaments and shells beads.