 Juan Luna y Novicio was a Filipino

artist, sculptor and political activist

of the Philippine revolution
 Born on October 23, 1857 in Badoc,
Ilocos Norte
His interest in art was due to the
influence of his brother, Manuel who
was also a painter
Mostly known for his works as being
dramaic and dynamic, focusing on
romanticism and realism styles of art
He is married to Maria de la Paz Pardo
de Tavera and had a son named Andres
1st recognized Philippine artist
 The famous painting was a
silver medalist during the 1881
National Exposition of Fine Arts in
Madrid which was Luna’s first art
Cleopatra exposition. It measures 8x11 feet
and is on display for the first time in
131 years. The mural is now at
the National Gallery Singapore and
it's the closest it has ever come to
the Philippines.
Luna sold the painting for
5,000 Spanish pesetas, the highest
price for a painting at the time.
As Luna’s “graduation work”,
1881 The Death of Cleopatra was
acquired by the Spanish government
for one.
 Spoliarium is a Latin word
which refers to the Roman
Colosseum basement where the
dying gladiators are dumped in. This
Spoliarium historical painting was an entry to
the prestigious Exposicion de Bellas
Artes which eventually got Juan his
first gold medal. It’s the largest
painting in the Philippines with its
size of 4.22 m. x 7.675 m.
In 1886, it was sold to
Diputacion Provincial de Barcelona
for 20,000 pesetas.
It currently hangs in the main
gallery at the ground floor of the
National Museum of the Philippines
1884 and is the first work of art that
greets visitors upon entry into the
museum.
 It is an oil on wood painting which
Spain and is an allegorical depiction of 2 women
the together, one representation of Spain and
the other of the Philippines.
Philippines
The painting, also known as
Espanya Guiando a Filipinas (Spain
leading the Philippines), is regarded as one
of the “enduring pieces of legacy” that the
Filipinos inherited from Luna.
It projected a close bond between
Spain and the Philippines through
feminine figures, it is a propaganda
painting that revealed the true hope and
desire of Filipino propagandists during
1886 19th-millenia: assimilation with Spain,
reform, equality, modernization, and
economic improvement.
 The Spaniard woman was drawn
Spain and with “wide strong shoulders” while
the the Filipino woman was illustrated as
“graceful” and brown-skinned. Both
Philippines were wearing female dresses known
as traje de mestiza or "dress of
the mestiza". The dressing of the women
in traje de mestizas shows the cultural
character, class consciousness, and social
transformations resulting from 19th
century Hispanic colonization. Both
women have their backs to the viewer,
heading towards a far-away horizon,
while embarking on the steps of
a staircase. Side by side in the painting,
1886 Spain was shown to be leading the
Philippines along the path
to progress and development.
 The taller and maternal white
Spain and figure of a woman is Spain, a
the representation of the "benevolent image
of colonialism", is pointing ahead and
Philippines guiding the "humbly dressed" Filipina
to the "right way".
It is further described as a
painting that once linked the colonized
with its former colonists, a “bucolic
allegory” of the master and the servant
“walking hand in hand”.

1886
 Also known as The Roman
Las Maidens, The Roman Women, or The
Roman Ladies, is an oil on canvas painting
Damas by Luna when he was a student of the
Romanas school of painting in Madrid, Spain.
It is likewise drawn from ancient
Roman history, but is more cheerful. Two
ladies lie on the wide steps of a dwelling,
one of them holding the reins of two frisky
pet dogs, restraining them from scaring
away frolicking doves. In the background
behind them appears to be a shelf with
assorted artifacts, to their left is a small
shrine with a triangular pediment with
incense smoke rising from a burner in
1882 front of it.
 There are three main pictorial
Las elements here: women, dogs, and doves.
Dogs were part of Roman life and were
Damas basically used: for hunting, as guardians of
Romanas home or property, and in this case as
women's companions. Doves were often
given erotic connotations; in the
Philippines, to refer to a woman as
kalapating mababa ang lipad (low-flying
dove) means she is of ill-repute.

1882
 Portrays the 1565 Sandugo (blood
compact ritual) between Datu Sikatuna
of Bohol and Miguel López de Legazpi,
The Blood surrounded by other conquistadors. Datu
Compact Sikatuna was described to be 'being
crowded out of the picture by Miguel
López de Legazpi and his fellow
conquistadores.
One of the three paintings Luna
gave the Government of Spain. The other
paintings are Don Miguel Lopez de
Legazpi, a painting that was burned
during the Philippine-Spanish war, and
Governor Ramon Blanco, a work that
1886 became a part of the Lopez Museum
collection.
 José Rizal and Trinidad H. Pardo
de Tavera helped Luna in completing the
painting by providing historical advice
The Blood and posing for the painter: Rizal posed
Compact as Sikatuna while Pardo de Tavera posed
as Legazpi.
In 1904, the painting won the first
prize in Paris France and at the St. Louis
Exposition in the United States.
This is one of the last paintings
created by Luna.

1886
 Also known as Interior d’Un Café
The or inside a café or literally someone who
Parisian is one step lower than prostitute painted
by Luna. Juan Luna is known to use
Life prostitutes as models in his painting
sessions for a very obvious reason-
they’re paid cheap.
The painting is showing a lady
wearing a flamboyant hat, in French
dress with long sleeves, ruffled ends and
length beyond her ankles. Not so far are
the three gentlemen dressed in European
garbs the top hats and the coats at the left
of the image are Luna himself, José
1892 Rizal, and Ariston Bautista Lin.
 The way she was seated seems
like the inverted islands of the country
(with the arm representing Palawan).
That lady is our motherland, the
Philippines. She was wearing pink and
white to symbolize the purity of the
country, but her suggestive seating
position depicts abuse from its
colonizers. It’s black turtleneck, which
people believed to be a rope pulling the
woman up. She was being hung, and for
experts, it symbolized the lack of
freedom of the country then. The
experts also believed that the woman
was with someone (maybe a Spaniard)
because of the appearance of the mug
and the cap in the painting. And her face
being not happy in her position at that
moment but trying not to let it show.
 Was the son of Pedro Amorsolo and
Bonifacia Cueto
Born on May 30, 1892 at Paco, Manila
and died in April 21, 1972 due to heart
failure
He spent most of his childhood years
in Daet, Camarines Norte where his
love for rural life became the
foundation of his artistic outlook
The Grand Old Man of Philippine Art
 His favorite themes are the rural
sceneries and the Philippine rural
landscapes.
 El Ciego is a masterpiece that
captures an intrinsic part of the
El Ciego Filipino culture: its music. It is an
interior scene of a blind man gently
strumming a guitar as a woman
leans toward him with an adoring
gaze.
Amorsolo was a nationalist at
heart, often striving to immortalize
the most beautiful aspects of his
country in the most dramatic way
possible, and El Ciego is an
exceptional example of that.
This work commissioned by a
1929 naval intelligence officer who helped
in the liberation of Manila during
World War II.
 The painting shows three
The Making women namely Marcella Marino
de Agoncillo (on the right side)
of Philippine refer as the mother of the
Flag Philippine flag, the help of
Lorenza and Delfina Herbosa de
Natividad which is actually the
daughters of Marcela.
The painting want to show
the citizen of the Philippines of
how Philippine flag was made
1892 and to remind them the tradition
and customs that we did not
realize it becomes faded.
 Happy Filipino villagers in
their bright clothes and straw hats
Planting Rice work together amid a green and
With Mayon sunlit landscape of plenty. Behind
them, releasing a peaceful plume of
Volcano steam, rises the beautifully
symmetrical cone of Mayon
Volcano. Mayon’s eruption can be
very destructive but here the
relationship between the volcano
and the surrounding landscape is
depicted as a positive, fruitful and
harmonious one.
1951 Mayon is a celebrated symbol
of the Philippines, and its presence
emphasizes Amorsolo’s wish to
represent the spirit of the nation
canvas.
 The painting is an example
specimen of Amorsolo’s conception
Fruit of an ideal Filipina beauty.

Gatherer The meaning of the Fruit

Gatherer painted by Amorsolo is to
be sure you recognize and
appreciate the small things. It
represents a hard worker who is
often not appreciated.

1950
 Afternoon meal of the
Afternoon rice workers by Fernando
Meal of the Amorsolo is a 1951 oil in
Rice Workers canvas painting. It won the
first prize at the New York
World’s Fair.
It has a good combination
of colors especially the light
ones. The story behind this
painting is really the one that
is really captivating. It shows
1951 how simple but happy the life
of our great farmers was.
Juan Luna
• Is a shining example of how one’s talent and love for
art and country can empower one to overcome
limitations and challenges in creating enduring beauty
and continuing art’s social relevance.
• He only proved that no barriers can prevent the
Filipinos’ talent and brilliance from reaching greatness
Fernando Amorsolo
• His historical paintings reflect the desire to search for
and capture that elusive thing we call national identity
• Amorsolo, created his artwork to show the true value
were intended in show Filipino’s characteristic glow.