GARCIA, SOFIA ISABELLE G.

CE-1/B2
SPOLIARIUM

The Spoliarium (often misspelled Spolarium) is a painting by Filipino painter Juan Luna.
The painting was submitted by Luna to the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1884 in Madrid,
where it garnered the first gold medal (out of three). In 1886, it was sold to the Diputación
Provincial de Barcelona for 20,000 pesetas. 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. The picture recreates a despoiling scene in a Roman circus where
dead gladiators are stripped of weapons and garments.

Luna, working on canvas, spent eight months completing the painting which depicts dying
gladiators. Filipino historian Ambeth Ocampo writes, "...the fact remains that when Luna and Félix
Resurrección Hidalgo won the top awards in the Madrid Exposition of 1884, they proved to the
world that indios could, despite their supposed barbarian race, paint better than the Spaniards who
colonized them." Ryan Cayabyab composed the opera Spoliarium, which chronicles the creation
of the eponymous painting and Juan Luna's trial for the murder of his wife. Soprano Fides
Cuyugan-Asensio wrote the libretto. A recorded version was released for commercial distribution
in 2006. Popular Filipino rock band Eraserheads released a single entitled Spolarium from their
album Sticker Happy, penned by Ely Buendia.

The painting is also mentioned by the poet Ma. Luisa Aguilar Igloria in her collection, Juan
Luna's Revolver, and by the novelist Miguel Syjuco in his novel Ilustrado. In the 2015 historical
film Heneral Luna, a scene where soldiers drag the mutilated corpses of Antonio Luna and Paco
Roman while shocked onlookers watch from a staircase closely mirrors the Spoliarium. Antonio
Luna is the younger brother of Juan Luna

All in all, the Spoliarium is a nice painting whch portrays important meanings and hidden
messages.