''España y Filipinas'' (“Spain and the Philippines") is a series of

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of ligni ...

paintingsHonasan, Alya B
"España y Filipinas" by Juan Luna
, Into the 21st Century, lopezmuseum.org.ph by Filipino painter,

Ilustrado The Ilustrados (, "erudite", "learned" or "enlightened ones") constituted the Filipino educated class during the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century. Elsewhere in New Spain (of which the Philippines were part), the term ''gente de r ...

, and revolutionary activist,

Juan Luna Juan Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta (, ; October 23, 1857 – December 7, 1899) was a Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century. He became one of the first recogni ...

. It is an

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory ...

depictionOcampo, Ambeth
Juan Luna’s works
Looking Back, Inquirer Opinion/Columns, Inquirer, opinion.inquirer.net, October 24, 2007 of two

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

together, one a representation of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and the other of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

.Arrizón, Alicia
Queering Mestizaje: Transculturation and Performance
pages 146-149, University of Michigan Press The painting, also known as ''España llevando a la gloria a Filipinas'' ("Spain Insuring the Glory of the Philippines") or ''España Guiando a Filipinas'' ("Spain Leading the Philippines"),Go, Kitty

, from "Sotheby's to auction Hidalgo's 'La Parisienne'", Inquirer News Service, inquirer.net is regarded as one of the “enduring pieces of legacy” that the

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

s inherited from Luna.Revisiting the Lopez Museum
, asiantravelermagazine.com

Description

The

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both i ...

woman “Motherland" was drawn with “wide strong

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder m ...

s” while the Filipino woman was illustrated as “graceful” and brown-skinned. Both were wearing female dresses known as ''traje de mestiza'' or "dress of the

mestiza (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though their ...

". The dressing of the women in traje de mestizas shows the cultural character, class consciousness, and social transformations resulting from 19th century Hispanization. Both women have their

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column r ...

s to the viewer, heading towards a far-away horizon, while embarking on the steps of a staircase. Side by side in the painting, Spain was shown to be leading the Philippines along the path to

progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension w ...

and development. The taller and maternal white figure of a woman is Spain, a representation of the "benevolent image of colonialism", is pointing ahead and guiding the "humbly dressed" Filipina to the "right way".Tan, Clarissa
Acceptance, satire, rebellion
– the Philippine and Mexican exhibitions at the Singapore Art Museum show us the many ways artists deal with the powers that be, clarissa-tan.com The painting appeared in the book entitled ''El legado de España a Filipinas'' or "the Spanish legacy in the Philippines" with the accompanying caption stating: ''España guiando a Filipinas por la senda del progreso'' (“Spain leads the Philippines on their way to progress”). It is further described as a painting that once linked the

colonize Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

d with its former

colonist A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settl ...

s,Rapadas, Don G
The Past is Just Nearby
, ''Two private museums within the metropolis tell our history and describe our identity'', Leisure, Philippine Business Magazine, Volume 8, No. 6, philippinebusiness.com a "

bucolic allegory A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

" of the master and the servant "walking hand in hand".

Historical significance

Although an oil on canvas masterpiece"España y Filipinas"
, Juan Luna painting collection, lopez-museum.org; (...) ''"Having attained fame, Luna (...) received various government commissions. These commissions produced his great canvases, such as (...) "España y Filipinas."'' (..) that projected a close bond between Spain and the Philippines through feminine figures, it is a

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loa ...

painting that revealed the true hope and desire of Filipino propagandists during the 19th-century: assimilation with Spain, reform, equality, modernization, and economic improvement. Contrary to

Jose Rizal Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya * Jose the Gali ...

’s estimation that Luna was a “Hispanophile”, or a person who could never go against Spain, the ''España y Filipinas''

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...

is a “less

combative Combatives is the term for hand-to-hand combat training and techniques within the Army branch of the United States military. History Sometimes called Close-Quarters Combat (CQC or close combat), World War II-era American combatives were large ...

posture” of Luna for showing to Spain and the viewers of the painting the needs of the Philippines at the time.

Paintings

Luna reportedly painted six versions of ''España y Filipinas'', though overall compositions are largely similar. Of the six versions made, only three have been presently located. The earliest version was painted in 1884 and is part of the permanent collection of the

National Gallery Singapore ms, Galeri Kebangsaan Singapura ta, சிங்கப்பூர் தேசிய கலைக்கூடம் , logo = National_Gallery_Singapore_logo.svg , image = Interior_of_the_National_Gallery_Singapore.jpg , caption = Interior of ...

. The work was commissioned by the Filipino politician

Pedro Paterno Pedro Alejandro Paterno y de Vera IgnacioGarcía Castellón, Manuel. (February 27, 1857 – April 26, 1911, 993 pages) was a Filipino politician infamous for being a turncoat. He was also a poet and a novelist. His intervention on behalf of th ...

, a known friend and patron of Luna. It was subsequently publicly exhibited at the 1893 ''Exposición Histórico-Natural y Etnográfica'' at the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. Afterwards, the painting eventually ended up in the possession of Don José Vázquez Castiñeira, a former mayor of

Sarria Sarria is a municipality in the province of Lugo, northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Sarria is the most populous town on the French Way in Galicia, with 13,700 inhabitants. It is head of the region and the most popular s ...

, a municipality in the province of

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 98,025 in 2018, making it the fourth most populous city in Gal ...

in Spain for nearly 130 years. It is speculated that when Paterno became the new Director of the Museo-Biblioteca de Filipinas, the paintings were either sold or given to Vázquez Castiñeiras. Interestingly, Paterno was married to María Luisa Piñeiro de Paterno, who hailed from

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

, the same region as Vázquez Castiñeiras. In 1996, María Núñez Rodríguez, a widow without children and the late spouse of Don Francisco Vázquez Gayoso and descendant of José Vázquez Castiñeira, gathered her relatives to her residence in order to distribute her estate. Among the assets included in her estate were various Philippine artworks, such as the 1884 iteration of ''España y Filipinas'', a study of the Spoliarium, ''

La Pintura The ''La Pintura'' is a painting by the Filipino artist Félix Resurrección Hidalgo done in the style of Impressionism. The painting depicts a woman holding an paintbrush while turning back to the viewer, as she gazes towards an unfinished ca ...

'' by Luna's contemporary

Félix Resurrección Hidalgo Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla (February 21, 1855 – March 13, 1913) was a Filipino artist. He is acknowledged as one of the greatest Filipino painters of the late 19th century, and is significant in Philippine history for having been an ...

, and other notable Philippine artworks. Eventually, the painting later sold in 2012 at the Barcelona-based auction Balclis was eventually sold to a private Philippine art dealer. In 2013, the 1884 version of ''España y Filipinas'' was subsequently sold for a world record price of HK$25.88 million (US$2.693 million) at a

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

auction sale in Hong Kong, becoming the most expensive work of Philippine art ever sold at auction. The second version, the largest of the series, was painted in 1888 and is part of the collection of the

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from th ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

, with the piece being loaned on a long-term basis to the City Council of

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. The commission for this artwork came from

Víctor Balaguer i Cirera Víctor Balaguer i Cirera (; 11 December 1824 – 14 January 1901) was a Spanish politician and author, was born at Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) on 11 December 1824, and was educated at the university of his native city. Biography His firs ...

, who served as the Minister of Overseas in Spain. Impressed by the initial version created for Paterno, Balaguer requested a more detailed rendition from Luna. The purpose of this elaborate painting was to promote closer ties between Spain and the Philippines, effectively serving as a propaganda tool. The third version of the painting, created between 1888 and 1893, is a smaller rendition of the second version. It currently resides in the esteemed collection of the López Museum and Library in Manila. Originally commissioned for Balaguer's post-retirement period, the artwork found its way to the

Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer The Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer (Víctor Balaguer Museum & Library) is located in Vilanova i la Geltrú and was founded in 1884 by Víctor Balaguer so as to thank the city for its support during his politician career. Since 2000 the museu ...

before being acquired by Filipino industrialist Eugenio López Sr. for the López Museum and Library. File:España y Filipinas (Spain and the Philippines) Juan Luna National Gallery Singapore.jpg, ''España y Filipinas'', Oil on canvas, 229.5 × 77.5 cm,

, Singapore File:España Guiando a Filipinas ("Spain Insuring the Glory of the Philippines") by Juan Luna Museo del Prado.jpg, ''España llevando a la gloria a Filipinas'' 1888, Oil on canvas, 442 x 167 cm,

, on loan to the City Council of

. File:Espana y Filpinas Juan Luna y Novicio Lopez Museum and Library.jpg, ''España Guiando a Filipinas'' circa 1888-1893, Oil on canvas, 249.3 × 79.5 cm, López Museum and Library, Manila

Description

Historical significance

Paintings

See also