POINTS OF VIEW by EJ: Visiting the National Museum

Yesterday, the whole class of education students from Social Studies and Pre- School Education majors went on a trip to go out the boundaries of The Walled City-- Intramuros, as we pay visit at the National Museum which is just walking distance from university, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. All of this visitation at the museum was because of our subject Art, Man and Society which is basically all about Humanities. Since no place near the university is best to cater our minds of art appreciation than the National Museum, it’s a trip to prance and to cavort with high exhilaration.

If Augustus Water dubbed his cancer with “cancer perk” gathering a number of trophy collection and the issuance of the driver's license of course, then we're very fortunate enough to be student and enjoy the “students' perk” paying a minimal entrance fee of P50 instead of P120. But this applies for those who are legitimate one, meaning those who have ID's only (laugh :p). Nevertheless, the trip was ecstatic!

National Museum is divided into four independent museums namely National Art Gallery, Museum of the Filipino People, Museum of Natural History and Planetarium. Unfortunately, Museum of Natural History is not open to the public as per our tour guide and will hopefully be open by 2015 due to reconstruction and renovation. As we all know, the National Museum of the Philippines houses all the national art which we considered as the treasure of our rich historical accounts over the time and has the sole purpose as repository to preserve, conserve and protect our cultural treasures for the pleasure and amusement of incoming Filipino generations. This buildings reflect how grandeur our cultural heritage is which is something to be boastful enough.

The first museum that we visit is of course the National Art Gallery to immortalize the main reason of paying visit to the museum which is for art appreciation in connection to our course subject. This museum formerly housed the old congress building so it was really monumental and has a stupendous degree of pride for every Filipino visitors. It's not my first time to be on that museum but I can say that it has gone a long amelioration since I first went there back 2010. The very facade of the National Art Gallery was very significant to me since it was the place where I took oath together with about two hundred young parliamentarians all over the archipelago during the 10^th National Youth Parliament. It was really a great time to reminisce the past and got mesmerized on what the museum can offer to us.

Our first stop is the highlight of the National Art Gallery which is the famously world renowned work of our hero and artist Juan Luna, the Spoliarium. On the same room, the work of another great Filipino artist can be found which is The Assassination of Gobernador Bustamante by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. Would you not get amazed and think about how Hidalgo and Luna worked on those colossal paintings which is larger than life? The same splendor my senses can feel it has even back then until now upon making a good view on those paintings. But of course, it is not suffice to feed our eyes only without even giving an equal amount of information to our brains. Since this painting was the highlight of the museum, it was given a quantum remarks by our tour guide.

Gigantic Spoliarium & Powerful Me

The Assassination of Gobernador Bustamante with the soon to be governor :p

According to our tour guide, Juan Luna did not make any explanations and accounts about his painting. It was then through our National Hero Dr. Jose y Rizal who made annotations about the painting. The Spoliarium is the Latin term for the basement of the Colosseum; so basically it depicts the bloody human gladiator fight of the Romans who fought and died at the end leaving their soulful bodies out of nowhere. At the right side of the painting is two women who are weeping over the death of his loved one and this connotes the present status of our Mother Land. Meanwhile, on the left side are spectators who are waiting to get something and strip-off out of the dead body of the gladiators for their own pleasure and this on the other hand symbolize the merchants of today. Similarly, there are two old men standing in front of the gladiators who are ill of leprosy. These old men wait for the body and blood of the dead gladiators to sip off because it is the belief then that this blood can cure their ill. This work of an art by Juan Luna is of paramount significance to every Filipino since it is the largest painting in the Philippines and making it to grabbed the first gold medal in Madrid Art Exposition by 1884. No wonder why it is the highlight of the National Art Gallery.

Our trip over the museum goes on so here are some photos for your eyes pleasure on our walk at every hall gallery in the museum.

Colonial Philippine religious art f the 17th to the 19th centuries, prominent among which is retablo from the Church of San Nicolas de Tolentino in Dimiao, Bohol- a national cultural treasure- together with a selection of carved religious images (santos), reliefs and paintings.

This set of next photos captured were the works from our National Artist for Sculpture none other than Guillermo Tolentino. His famous work was the Oblation in the University of the Philippines Diliman but his greatest masterpiece was the Sigaw ng Pugad Lawin at Balintawak depicting a historical account from the history during the fight for independence spearheaded by the Supremo-- Andres Bonifacio.

Juan Luna: A man of great aesthetic.

Coronation of Laurel leaves to Balagtas symbolizing extraordinary wisdom.

Mother and Child

Left to Right: San Antonio De Padua, Sto Nino and San Martin de Porres

To all viewers: CAREFUL! A sight to the sculptures of Guillermo Tolentino

Man of the Past to Live

Left to Right: Carlos P. Garcia, Ramon Magsaysay, Ferdinand E. Marcos

Ang Supremo: Andres Bonifacio

Peep over the Commonwealth of the Philippines

We all know Guillermo Tolentino by Sculpting but he is a major of Painting also at University of the Philippines. One of his paintings was this one. It shows the creative mind of Tolentino bringing all together the great heroes and ilustrados of our history into one "shot-like" to painting.

Filipinos Ilustre by Guillermo Tolentino

The next photos are the great works of two Filipino National Artist in Painting-- Carlos V. Francisco and Vicente S. Manansala.

Introduction of the First Christian Image by Carlos V. Francisco, 1965

First Mass at Limasawa by Carlos V. Francisco, 1965

Planting of the First Cross by Vicente S. Manansala, 1965

Mural works of Vicente S. Manansala

Upon viewing this next paintings (photo), I realized that every painters has their own distinct differences from one another making them significantly easy to point out to the work of one painter from the other one. This are all because from the works of Fernando Amorsolo who loves to paint sceneries and Filipino traditions far different from the works of Francisco and Manansala. Amorsolo's works were very nationalistic in a way.

Tinikling by Fernando Amorsolo

Las Lavanderas by Fernando Amorsolo

Ang Tindahan by Fernando Amorsolo

Rice Fields by Fernando Amorsolo

Sunset by Fernando Amorsolo

Oracion by Fernando Amorsolo

For the ultimate and legitimate #ThrowbackThursday, here's the old fashioned re constructed churches and building all over the country, jars, remains, and rich significant cultural treasures of the past. Get yourself amazed packed with your ingenuity over computing how old this artifacts and remains are.