My favorite wall/corner inside the museum.
Back in 2019, I went to the National Museum Of The Philippines for the very first time. I remember wanting to go on so many occasions but was only allowed to roam around the Metro at 26 years old.
We came all the way from Quezon Province, Papa's birthplace, which is like a 5-hour drive.
Stopped by at my Tita's place in Laguna to have a hearty breakfast, and instead of going straight to Bulacan, they dropped me somewhere along Pasay and I just hailed a cab from there.
It's always a lot of driving whenever we go north for a family reunion.
USUAL SCENERY: Sunrises/Sunsets. Zigzag Road. Morning Taho. Papa's Hometown.National Museum Of The Philippines
The National Museum of the Philippines (Filipino: Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas) is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines including ethnographic, anthropological, archaeological and visual arts collections. Source
☺ DID YOU KNOW?
I arrived at around 1pm.
Not early to visit all of the museums, but not super late to not enjoy the visual arts collection which is the main reason why I went there.
Upon arrival, I was greeted with gigantic statues, coffered ceilings, and Roman columns. And after almost crying happy tears, I went to the reception desk to fill out the visitors' log book.
They checked my bag for any items not allowed inside the museum such as food & beverages, art materials other than pencils, tripods, video camera, etc.
It was also my first time seeing The Diwata Mortuary Sculpture by Guillermo Tolentino, and needless to say I was starstruck.
It was such a stunning masterpiece that it deserves to be the welcome obra of the museum.
And when you get past the sculpture, you're greeted with the largest painting in the Philippines called Spolarium by Juan Luna.
He spent 8 months completing the gigantic painting of about 4.22 meter by 7.675 meter in dimension which portrays dying gladiators; recreating a scene in Roman circus in ancient roman empire.
And as Ambeth Ocampo said, "...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 raItalicce, paint better than the Spaniards who colonized them."
Philippes was colonized by the Spaniards for 333 years.
After lingering around the Spolarium, checking every detail my eyes could reach & feeling oddly sentimental for no apparent reason, I went inside and passed by a mauve pink corridor with human-size statues.
BURGUNDY ROOM: Juan Luna's Masterpieces
To be completely honest, I've never had any interest with Luna's paintings back then, but when I saw them in person, I was mesmerized to the point where I tried really hard to stop myself from crying.
They were so good I thought if I could achieve half of what he can do, I'd die happy. And so naturally, I spent a good amount of time in the room, and even went back before the museum closes.
NOTE: It was not just Luna's paintings in that room, there were also a handful of Hidalgo's masterpieces (which are gorgeous as well) but I was mostly blown away by Juan Luna's works.
READ: Behind the Curse of Juan Luna's "Portrait of a Lady" by Esquire
Bust of Juan Luna by Anastacio on display at the National MuseumTO BE CONTINUED...
This is only the first part of this 3-part virtual tour. I hope you enjoyed the photographs & masterpieces presented, and I really hope you can visit our museum in this lifetime.
Until the next part!
♡,
Orange Sunday