Spolarium

Juan Luna, a Filipino painter and apolitical activist during the Philippine Revolution, created The
Spoliarium, which is considered a masterpiece. In the 1884 Exposicion de Bellas Artes in Madrid, his work
was awarded the Goldmedal. The title "Spoliarium" refers to the basement of the Roman Colosseum
where the fallen and dead gladiators are thrown, and the picture portrays fallen gladiators being hauled by
Roman troops. This is a very well know artwork of Juan Luna, a very familiar for each and every one of us
Filipinos.

Spolarium is the painting that I chose because it is something familiar to me already. This artwork
appears in books I read as a child. At the time, I assumed this artwork was merely the size of a canvas or a
piece of long bond paper. The scale of the museum astounds me after what I experienced there. It
measured 400 by 700 centimeters, according to them. It's too large to be carried by a human. This
painting, I believe, would look great in the National Museum's main gallery. The picture is terrible and
difficult. I can see the military carrying every person's blood to one location. This was the reason Juan Luna
won the gold medal in the competition, in my opinion. The persons being dragged through one location
are Gladiators who were Roman slaves. Some allege that the gladiators were dragged to a chamber where
they were cruelly killed by the Romans, while others maintain that it was merely a place for their slaves.
There are a lot of scene that can be noticed in the painting like the audience who seems to enjoy seeing
the gladiators being dragged and the woman on the top left corner weeping as it is happening.

The picture has a deeper value for Filipinos throughout the Spanish colonization period. Juan Luna
created this picture, in my opinion, as a representation of what Filipinos have gone through over the last
300 years. The Filipinos play gladiators, while the Spanish play Romans. The lady in the painting's top left
corner may have represent the "Inang Bayan" who cries for her homeland. Luna is well-known for his
opposition to Spain's rule over the Philippines. The nation's social cancer is the folks who are smiling on
the sidelines as the gladiators pass. Officials from government agencies who are crooked are the cancers.
This could be the reason why The Spolarium is something that has left a mark throughout the time. It is
something people cannot forget because it may have portray foreign people but the scene is something
that reflects our ancestors struggles in the hands of the colonizers.

Czarina Kyle L. La Paz

2nd year AB Psychology - GE2 (12:00)