Almero, Sophia Jessica A.

IS212 – Rutherford

Spoliarium

I went to the National Museum of Fine Arts and I found this painting. It was
my first time to see it in person, and I was really overwhelmed by its size, and I
think it's the biggest painting in the museum. This painting shows the men being
dragged mercilessly by the soldiers. For my own interpretation, I think this
painting shows the what our Filipino ancestors experienced during the Spanish
colonization. The men who are being dragged are the Filipino, while the soldiers
are the Spaniards. The woman on the right shows "Inang Bayan" crying for her
own country, while the crowd on the left shows the toxic people who did nothing
and just let the Spaniards abuse the Filipinos that time.

Juan Luna was a Filipino painter, sculptor and political activist of the
Philippine Revolution of the late 19th century. He became one of the first Filipino
artists to be recognized. He studied painting in Europe, and when his friend, who
was also a painter, brought him to Rome, he was exposed to the art of the
Renaissance that he applied to his works of art. His painting Spoliarium was
heavenly influenced by Renaissance painters, and he won the first gold medal
when he presented it to the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid in
1884.