''Las Damas Romanas'' (literally, "The Roman

Dame ''Dame'' is a traditionally British honorific title given to women who have been admitted to certain orders of chivalry. It is the female equivalent of ''Sir'', the title used by knights. Baronet, Baronetesses Suo jure, in their own right also u ...

s"), also known as ''The Roman Maidens'', ''The Roman Women'',Las Damas Romanas (The Roman Women)
from "Luna Y Novicio, Juan", bookrags.com or ''The Roman Ladies'', is an

oil on canvas Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or copper for several centuries. ...

painted in the style of Neo-Classicism by

Juan Luna Juan Luna de San Pedro y Novicio (, ; October 25, 1857 – December 7, 1899) was a Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activism, activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century. He became one of the first recog ...

, one of the most famous Filipino painters of the Spanish period in the Philippines. It was painted by Luna when he was a student of the school of painting in the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

(

Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...

) in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1877. Alejo Valera, a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

painting teacher, took Luna as an apprentice and brought him to Rome where Luna created ''Las Damas Romanas'' in 1882. Skilled in the style of the Academy he was the first Filipino painter to win international recognition in Europe and the US. Luna spent six years in Rome from 1878 to 1884.

Historical overview

''Las Damas Romanas'' is one of the early works of Luna as a painter that resurfaced in the past quarter of a century after being presumed to be either lost or missing.Lost Luna work found
rogueclassicism, atrium-media.com Before its reappearance in Paris many years before 2008, it had been documented only as a title and as a listed work of Luna in the 1957 biography of Luna written by Carlos E. Da Silva. The painting had also been documented through a black and white photograph from the files of Alfonso T. Ongpin, a historian and pre-war art dealer. In 1980, the image from Ongpin was reprinted by Santiago Pilar in the book "Juan Luna: The Filipino As Painter".Ocampo, Ambeth (columnist).
Lost Luna found in Paris to be sold
Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 23, 2008, inquirer.net

Description

The concept for the 100 cm x 170 cm size painting was based by Luna on

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. It depicted a domestic scene in ancient

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

life, portraying two

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

lying on the steps of a house. The hand of one

woman A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...

was holding the

rein Reins are used to direct a horse (or other animal) when riding or driving. They are attached to a bridle's bit or noseband and are made of leather, nylon, or other materials. Reins are used to give subtle commands or cues—also known as r ...

s of two pet dogs or hunting dogs, in order to prevent them from scaring away some

dove Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

s. The doves symbolized divinity The background of the painting presented a shelf of artifacts. To the left of the shelf was a

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

with a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

shaped like a triangle. In front of the pediment was a burner with a smoking

incense Incense is an aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremonial reasons. It ...

. There are three major elements of ''Las Damas Romanas'', namely the women, the dogs, and the doves. Roman life involved having dogs because they were employed by the ancient Romans for hunting activities, guardians of the home and their property, and as pets. In Luna's painting, the leashed pet dogs were acting as companions of women. Doves, on the other hand, were animals that connote

eroticism Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...

. In relation to one of the women, there was a suggestion that the woman on the right with dark hair could be Maria de la Paz Pardo de Tavera. The notion was discarded because Luna was unmarried when he painted ''Las Damas Romanas''. Luna finished ''Las Damas Romanas'' after winning a silver medal for ''

The Death of Cleopatra ''The Death of Cleopatra'' (), also known simply as ''Cleopatra'', is an 1881 oil painting on canvas by the Filipino painter Juan Luna, currently on display at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. Depicting the death of Cleopatra, the last activ ...

'' painting in 1881 and before obtaining a gold medal for the masterpiece ''

Spoliarium The ''Spoliarium'' is a painting by Filipino people, Filipino painter Juan Luna. Luna, working on canvas, spent eight months completing the painting which depicts dying gladiators. The painting was submitted by Luna to the ''Exposición Nacion ...

'' in 1884 (both were presented during the Madrid Exposition during the years mentioned).Ocampo, Ambeth R. (Chairman, National Historical Institute of the Philippines
Las Damas Romanas (Roman Maidens) by Juan Luna (The Philippines 1857-1899)
Christie's, Department Information, Southeast Asian Modern and Contemporary Art, christies.com In 1886, Luna was awarded a Diploma of Honor at the Munich Art Exposition (also known as the Munich Salon) for painting ''Las Damas Romanas''.Luna's Damas Romanas (Roman Ladies)
, from "Juan Novicio Luna (1857-1899)", kulay-diwa.comLuna's Damas Romanas (Roman Ladies)
, from "Juan Novicio Luna", filipinopaintings.com The masterpiece was a classic work painted in the highest conventions of the academic style, and it was a representative of the "abundant richness of life, with humankind", represented by women in the painting, being "in harmony with Nature".

Valuation

Long thought lost or missing, the painting emerged in an estate sale outside Paris, France, before 2008. During this art auction, the painting was originally priced between 10,000 and 20,000

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s (

₱ The Philippine peso sign (₱) is the currency symbol used for the Philippine peso, the official currency of the Philippines. The symbol resembles a Latin script, Latin letter P with two horizontal strokes. It differs from the currency symbol u ...

623,000 and ₱1.3 million), a range that rose to greater than 200,000 euros (₱12.4 million) when the painting was bought by a French art dealer. The painting was auctioned once again on November 30, 2008, at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

with an estimated value ranging from $1 million to $1.2 million, the equivalent of

HK$ The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of Hong Kong. It is divided into 100 cents. Historically, it was also divided into 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong an ...

8,000,000 to HK$10,000,000.''(...) "Leading the selection of Modern works this season is Las Damas Romanas (Roman Maidens) by Juan Luna (...) estimate: HK$8,000,000-10,000,000 / US$1,025,600-1,282,000" (...)''
Colonial Classics and Modern Masterpieces, Christie's Hong Kong Announces Fall 2008 Sale of Southeast Asian Modern and Contemporary Art, artdaily.com The work sold for far less than the estimate, however, achieving $609,193, or HK$4,700,000, including buyer's premium.

References

External links

Larger image of ''Las Damas Romanas'' by Juan Luna
at artdaily.com
Philippine Art Powerpoint Presentation
at authorstream.com
Other paintings by Luna
at flickr.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Damas Romanas 1882 paintings Ancient Rome in art and culture Doves in art Paintings of dogs Paintings by Juan Luna Oil on canvas paintings Paintings of women

Historical overview

Description

Valuation

See also

References

External links