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JONATHAN L. FACTOR BSME 2

The art of the Philippines refers to the forms of art that have been
developed and accumulated by the Filipinos from the beginning of the
civilization up to the present time. The arts of the Philippines is also one of
the greatest ways on how Filipinos are being raised and how they express
themselves. Each of the provinces has specialty and contributions when it
comes to the development of art. It reflects to its society and non- Filipinos
the wide range of cultural influences on the country’s culture and how these
influences affect the country’s arts. The art of the Philippines can refer to the
visual performing arts, art traditions, dancing, paintings, literatures and other
forms of art in the country. It is also impressive that Filipino Arts is world
class. Filipino artists compete worldwide and bring home world class
awards. Through this world class art that the country has, Filipinos are being
recognized and are being in demand in other countries for Business and
Economic purposes. Before, art is just a passion for many but as time goes
by art is also becoming a part of the country’s development in terms of
Business, Economic and Cultural Growth.

Development on Visual Arts in the Philippines

When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in 1521, the colonizers used art
as a tool to propagate the Catholic faith through beautiful images. With
communication as problem, the friars used images to explain the concepts
behind Catholicism, and to tell the stories of Christ’s life and passion. Images
of the Holy Family and the saints were introduced to the Filipino psyche
through carved santos, the via crucis (Stations of the Cross), engravings
on estampas and estampitas, and through paintings on church walls.

Though the ethnic art forms such as pottery, weaving and metalwork were
retained, the Spanish friars and the Chinese, the colony’s primary trading
partner, were slowly introducing newer art forms. Icons brought by the friars
were used as models for sculpture. Filipino artisans were taught the Chinese
brushwork technique in painting. Engraving was also introduced.

The concept of patronage emerged. Artisans were commissioned and paid to

carve, engrave, and paint. They replaced the arts that were once done in a
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communal spirit and community setting for rituals. The church, particularly
the friars, became the new patron of the arts.

Since most art produced during the first two centuries of Spanish occupation
were for the church, the friars enforced strict supervision over their
production. Until the 19th century, art was only for the church and religious
use.

Early in the 19th century, with the opening of the Suez canal in 1869 and the
development of the agricultural export economy, native indios acquired
economic wealth and became what was to be called
the “ilustrados,”meaning enlightened and educated.  These developments
paved the way for Filipinos ilustrados to send 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 19thcentury.

A. Painting

The Spanish friars introduced Western painting in the Philippines to artisans

who learned to copy on two-dimensional form from the religious icons that
the friars brought from Spain,. For the first centuries of Spanish colonization,
painting was limited 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, the crucifixion, portrayal of heaven,
purgatory and hell.

Painters from the Visayas island of Bohol were noted for their skillful
manipulation of the technique. Their paintings of saints and religious scenes
show figures in frontal and static positions. For the Boholano painters, the
more important persons would be depicted bigger than the rest of the
figures. Christ normally dwarfs the Roman soldiers in these paintings.
Unfortunately, they did not sign their names on their works and no record of
their names exists.

In the church in Paete, Laguna are 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-
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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.

During the early part of the Spanish occupation, painting was exclusively for
the churches and for religious purposes. Occasionally, it was also used for
propaganda. Esteban Villanueva of Vigan, Ilocos Sur depicted the Ilocos
revolt against the basi monopoly in a 1821. The Spanish government
commissioned the work. The fourteen panels show the series of events that
led to the crushing of the Ilocano basi workers revolt by Spanish forces. It
also showed the appearance of Halley’s comet in the Philippines during that
time.

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.

The earliest known historical paintings in the Philippines was a mural at

the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) in Intramuros entitled The Conquest of the
Batanes done in 1783. Unfortunately, it was destroyed during the 1863
earthquake.

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

In the early 19th century, the rise of the ilustrados saw a rise in the art of
portraiture. The need to adorn their newly constructed bahay-na-bato and the
want to document their new found wealth and social status, the ilustrados
commissioned painters to make portraits of themselves. The works of
painters like Simon Flores,Antonio Malanticand Justiniano
Ascunsion  captured the intricately designed jewelry and fashion
accessories, the minuet details of the embroidered clothes, and ornately
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designed domestic furniture of the patrons. The painstaking attention to

minuet details characterized miniaturismo.

Governor General Narciso Claveria in 1849 issued a decree that all Philippine
natives should assume Spanish names. 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 patron’s name from
figures of people in local costumes doing everyday activities. It also utilized
landscape scenes as background.

In 1821, Damian Domingo opened the first formal fine arts school in the
country in his house, the Academia de Dibujo.  Perhaps realizing his
importance to Philippine art history, Damian Domingo is known for having
made the first self-portrait in the country. In 1823, the Real Sociedad
Economica Filipina de Amigos del Pais (Royal Economic Society of the
Friends of the Colony) opened their own art school. In 1826, the society
offered Domingo to be the professor in their school, in effect merging the two
art schools. In 1828, Domingo was promoted to school director. Domingo
must have taught miniaturismo to his students, but a publication by the
academy entitled Elementos de Perspectiva (Elements of Perspective)
suggests that he must have also taught the classical ideals of the European
academies. Due to lack of funds and probably due to Domingo’s death in
1832, the school eventually closed in1834.

In 1850, under the Junta de Commercio, a new art school, the Academia de

Dibujo y Pintura, was opened with 70 enrollees. Enrique Nieto y Zamora, a
new employee at the Post Office and a graduate of the Academia de San
Fernando in Madrid, was appointed as acting director of the academy.
Paintings by Spanish master were brought in to serve as models for the
students, propagating the European academic style of painting – using grand
subject matter from classical Greek and Roman mythologies, depicting
historical scenes, and the use of chiaroscuro.

The academy was renamed Escuela de Dibujo, Pintura y Grabado  in 1889. It

was later incorporated with theEscuela de Artes y Oficios in 1891. In 1893,
the school of arts and trades was separated from the academy. The academy
was later elevated to the Escuela Superior de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado.
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Other subject matter became increasingly popular such as genre, landscapes

(paisajes), and bodegones (still life) with artists like Simon
Flores, Lorenzo Guerrero, Felix Martinez, Paz Paterno and her half
sisterAdelaida Paterno. Flores’ two extant works, Primeras Letras and
Feeding the Chicken show the close bond between mother and child.

The academic style was still favored by the church and government and was
used for religious icons. The miniaturist style, though, was favored by
ilustrado patrons and continued to prosper.

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.

Luna’s 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 Spain’s 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 Luna’s 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 Philippine’s National Hero, that in a gathering of Filipinos in Madrid, he
gave a speech praising Luna and Hidalgo for their mastery and nationalism

In the 1892, Columbus Quadricentennial Art Contest competition sponsored

by La Illustracion Filipina, a Filipino weekly publication, a 16-year-old girl
named Carmen Zaragosa won first prize for her painting “Dos
Intelligencias.”In the 1895 Esposicion Regional de Filipinas in Manila,
Zaragosa won a Cooper medal for her painting. Fourteen other women artists
participated. Five of them won Cooper medals and four won honorable
mentions.

B. Sculpture

Of all the new art forms introduced, the natives took to sculpture instantly.
The carving of anito was transformed into sculpture of the saints.
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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 town’s 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 retabloscan be seen in the San Agustin Church in Intramuros.

Other parts of the church that may have carvings are church doors, pulpits,
and carrozas (floats that carry the saints for processions). The façade of
churches may be carved from adobe, coral stone, and volcanic rock, among
others. It may have carved images of saints, floral decorations or leaf decors.
In the case of the Miag-ao Church in Iloilo, the façade is decorated with a
carved image of St. Christopher carrying the Christ Child on his shoulders
under a coconut tree.

Relleves (carved images in relief) usually depict the Via Crucis. It may also
show holy images in religious scenes.

The earliest known sculptor in the Philippines is the 17 th century sacristan,

sculptor and silversmith Juan de los Santos (ca. 1590 – ca. 1660) of San
Pablo, Laguna. A few of his extant works may be found at the San Agustin
Convent museum.

Except for de los Santos, carvers were anonymous artisans before the
19th century. But in the mid-19thcentury, with the rise of the ilustrados and the
opening of the country to international trade, higher artistic standards were
demanded from the carvers/sculptors. A number of Filipinos found fame in
sculpture such asCrispulo Hocson, Romualdo de Jesus, Leoncio Asuncion
and Isabelo Tampinco.

The second half of the 19th century, as travel in and around the country
considerably improved, saw a marked increase in the demand for non-
religious souvenirs. Tipos del pais (human types of the country) sculptures,
showing ordinary people doing everyday activities and wearing their local
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costumes, became the favorite. They also depicted the heads of the various
ethnic groups.

The inclusion of sculpture in the Academia de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado

de Manila’s curriculum in 1879 formalized training in sculpture. Known
sculptors during this time were Bonifacio Arevalo, Graciano Nepomuceno,
Marcelo Nepomuceno, and Anselmo Espiritu. Philippine National Hero Jose P.
Rizal was a sculptor. He took up woodcarving lessons from Romualdo de
Jesus and Paete master carver Jose Caancan.

Paete, a small woodcarving town in Laguna, Southern Luzon, produced the

finest santo carvers during this period. The most prominent name is Mariano
Madriñan who won a gold medal in the 1883 Amsterdam Exposition for
his Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother).

In 1889, the first woman student, Pelagia Mendoza y Gotianquin, was

accepted in the Academia de Dibujo Y Pintura by then Director Lorenzo
Rocha. In 1892, Pelagia Mendoza won in the 1892 Columbus
Quadricentennial Art Contest with a bust of Christopher Columbus.

C. GRAPHIC ARTS

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

the Dominicans published the La Doctrina Christiana en la Lengua Española
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 andestampitas (smaller
version of estampas) were distributed during town fiestas to the natives.

In the 18th century, copper etching became more popular. Filipino engravers

like Francisco Suarez, Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay, Laureano Atlas, and Felipe
Sevilla were the first Filipino artists to sign their works. And with words like
“Indios Tagalo” or “Indio Filipino”, affixed their social status on their works.

Francisco Suarez (ca. 1690 – ca. 1762) and Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay (1702 –
ca. 1765) collaborated to depict landscapes, genre scenes and flora and
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fauna on the borders of maps commissioned by Fr. Murillo Velarde in 1733.

These were probably the first secular images done in the country. The two
also illustrated the pasyon written by Gaspar Aquino de Belen entitled Mahal
na Passion ni Jesu Christong Panginoon Natin Na Tola (The Holy Passion of
Our Lord Jesus Christ in Verse), possibly the first pasyon written in the
country.

Laureano Atlas made religious scenes and images. He did one of the earliest
known portrait engraved on copper, a portrait of Archbishop Juan Angel
Rodriguez in 1743. Phelipe Sevilla depicted scenes from the life of Christ.

Filipino engravers were the first to depict and reproduce brown madonnas.
The Nuestra Senora de Guia was made in 1711, the oldest Marian image. The
natives worship this icon like an anito.

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 Blanco’s Flora de Filipinas in 1878.

One of the popular newspapers during the 19 th century was La Illustracion

Filipina published by Don Jose Zaragosa. It had more than 100 issues from
November 1891 to February 1895. It usually featured lithograph prints of
people, landscapes and genre scenes. Since most of the family members
know how to draw (including Carmen Zaragosa mentioned earlier), some of
their works must have been published here.

Reference/s:

ELOISA MAY P. HERNANDEZ- Author

Gatbonton, Juan, et.al. Art Philippines. Crucible WorkshopRod Paras-Perez.

Edades and the 13 Moderns. Cultural Center of the PhilippinesTiongson,
Nicanor G. CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Visual Arts, Cultural Center of the
Philippines.
About the Author:
Eloisa May P. Hernandez  teaches Humanities at the Department of Art
Studies of the University of the Philippines, Diliman. She worked for the
Coordinating Center for Visual Arts, Outreach and Exchange Division, and
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Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.