JUAN LUNA

Spolarium 1884

The Spoliarium (often misspelled Spolarium) is a painting by Filipino painter Juan Luna. The

painting was submitted by Juan Luna to the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1884 in
Madrid, where it garnered the first gold medal (out of three). Juan Luna gained great popularity
among the Filipinos because of this painting.

no doubt that the painting commands attention and gives off a majestic aura. It is the largest
painting in the Philippines so far. Any viewer of the painting will feel dwarfed by the large
painting and may feel overwhelmed by the magnanimity of it. The next thing we'll notice about
the painting is the rich in colors used. Mostly, the painter made use of warm colors for his work
of art, with reds being a central color that attracts the most attention. As what other's personal
experience, the colors are striking and quite unique.
The Spolarium depicts an event during the Roman Empire, where bloodied bodies of gladiators,
who were drawn as slaves, are dragged mercilessly away by men from the wide and powerful
arena towards an unknown darkness, and where other tragically killed gladiators are brought. A
cheering crowd, screaming for blood can be noticed from the left side of the painting while to the
right a woman who is in crouched and seemingly in sorrow.
Definitely, the painting shows a tragic event. But it also shows a deeper meaning, especially for
the Filipinos during the time of the Spanish colonization. According to some art experts, the
fallen gladiators who are being dragged in the painting are the Filipino people, while the men
dragging them are representative of the Spanish rule. It is believed that the woman crouched on
the right side of the painting is the Mother Country or the Inang Bayan who weeps for her
Philippines. The blood thirsty crowd to the left represents the social cancer on that time. Truly,
there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the painting Spolarium.
It currently hangs in the main gallery at the ground floor of the National Museum of Fine Arts in
Manila, and is the first work of art that greets visitors upon entry into the museum. Whether you
are a foreigner or a local, it will be a great experience and an enriching experience to visit the
museum and learn more about Philippines Culture and History.
FERNANDO AMORSOLO
Planting rice with Mayon volcano (1949)

Amorsolo was committed to two fundamental ideas in his art: first, a classical notion of idealism,
in which artistic truth was found through harmony, balance and beauty, and second a
conservative concept of Filipino national character as rooted in rural communities and the cycles
of village life. The two come together in pastoral scenes such as ‘Planting Rice with Mayon
Volcano’, painted in 1949. Here, happy Filipino villagers in their bright clothes and straw hats
work together amid a green and sunlit landscape of plenty. Behind them, releasing a peaceful
plume of steam, rises the beautifully symmetrical cone of Mayon stratovolcano. It is the ash
erupted by the volcano over its highly-active history that has made the surrounding landscape
fertile, and the tranquil cone appears here to be a beneficial spirit of the earth standing guardian
over the villagers and their crops. Mayon’s eruptions can be very destructive (as in the violent
eruption of 1947, not long before this picture was painted, when pyroclastic flows and lahars
brought widespread destruction and fatalities) but here the relationship between the volcano and
the surrounding landscape is depicted as a positive, fruitful and harmonious one. Mayon is a
celebrated symbol of the Philippines, and its presence in Amorsolo’s painting emphasizes his
wish to represent the spirit of the nation on canvas.
‘Planting Rice with Mayon Volcano’ is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.