Arche Louis A.
Pulvera
ACB-1 HISTORY 1
Fernando Amorsolo
a. Dalagang Bukid
Content:
The "Dalagang Bukid" is one of Fernando
Amorsolo's best-known paintings. The painting,
or rather its subject, was Amorsolo's attempt to
depict Filipina beauty as opposed to the typical
Maria Clara image commonly associated with
local women. Sporting a smile and with a cheerful
disposition, the "Dalagang Bukid" saw Amorsolo
at his signature best--with vibrant sceneries
depicting rural life as lived out by our elders and
ancestors.
b. Fruit Gatherer
Content:
It depicts a woman sitting under a bamboo tree
holding a winnowing basket full of fresh fruits. It
also portrays the everyday lives of a lady living in
the province where fruits, vegetables, and other
edible things can be found fresh. It is the original
dalagang filipina.
Contextual Historical Analysis:
Guided by the use of texture and impressionism
characterized by relatively thin and small
brushstrokes, the vibrant tropical sunlight
emphasized the appearance of the woman in terms
of her outfit and skin color. Amorsolo’s style
further emphasized movement. Although it is not
that conspicuous, the image that the painting
depicts, in my perspective, is that the woman was
enjoying her walk by the fields, looking at the
trees, she looked back with a smile. Hence, her
shoulder gave emphasis on the way women
dressed which attempted to depict Filipino
conservative demeanor that every Filipina must
possess during the American colonial period.
Thus, this portrait created a narrative that life in
the province is merely agricultural, that life was
good, and that the ideal Filipino woman must be
conservative, beautiful, and happily serving her
family and doing reproductive jobs such as taking
care of the house chores and of upbringing the
children given her gentle and warm demeanor.
Contextual Historical Analysis:
The lady’s awkward smile signifies that she’s being
happy in the moment while having thoughts at the
back in her mind. The basket of fruit tells the place
has a quantity of resources. The lady’s clothes
denote a simple lifestyle and the lady also conveys
the shape of the Philippine archipelago. The
essence of manipulating lights gives more meaning
to the painter and deeper understanding as to what
really the painting tells.
c. Planting Rice
Content:
The painting features farmers set on a rice field,
regardless of their gender, they are all together
working under a bright sunny day. Due to the usage
of nature and pastel colors the painting gives off a
light visual weight, an irony to the heavy toil and
labor that rice planting entails. 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.
Antonio Luna
A. Spoliarium
Content:
It shows how the Filipinos were treated before
when they were colonized by Spaniards. It shows
that they were forced to entertain the Roman
oppressors and the Spaniards with their lives and
sacrifice themselves for the Roman’s and
Spaniard’s honor. Furthermore, they were just
treated as if they value less than animals.
Spoliarium becomes a united one with
asymmetrical patterns of components and this
asymmetrical pattern provides a comparison
between light and darkness. As all of this factors
combined, the message of this painting which is
human rights violation is well-pointed out. Its dark
colors represent the horrible things made by the
Spaniards to the Filipinos. Another is that the
chosen colors in the painting portrays
sadness, mourning, pain, suffering, and defeat
against the powerful Spaniards because even the
lives of Filipinos are being sacrificed just to honor
the will and the names of the Spaniards.
Contextual Historical Analysis:
The familiar sights of men and women hand in
hand working the rice field, the symmetrical cone
of Mayon Volcano, the bright clothes and the
salakots worn by the farmhands shielding them
from the intense tropical sun, and the carabao
plowing the field purposefully are masterfully
depicted by Amorsolo in his unflinchingly idyllic
and picturesque manner. In spite of the
laboriousness of the task at hand, the artist’s use of
mostly pastel hues project an ineffable feeling of
serenity and sheer delight in the innate charms of
the countryside.
Contextual Historical Analysis:
It shows the cruelty, injustices, sufferings and
helplessness experienced by the gladiators. It
represents a scene from the Roman Empire in
which men dragged the bloodied remains of slave
gladiators from the vast and mighty arena into an
unknown darkness, wherein more cruelly dead
gladiators are transported. Gladiators (the
subject of the painting) are armed combatants
who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic
and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with
other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned
criminals. The Romans dragging the almost
lifeless body of the gladiators illustrates
their unfeelingness towards their fellow human
beings. The most disgusting people were those that
were cheering on the left side of the painting. They
are the cancers of human society, waiting for
the gladiators to die so that they can take
their possessions. Not only did they not disapprove
of such entertainment, but they also strongly
supported such events for their selfish reasons. The
gladiators illustrate the helplessness that humans
undergo just because they lack power.