Letras y figuras (
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
...
, "letters and figures") is a
genre
Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
of
painting
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
pioneered by
José Honorato Lozano
José Honorato Lozano (1815 or 1821-1885) was a Filipino painter born in Manila. He is best known as the pioneering practitioner of the art form known as Letras y figuras, in which the letters of a patron's name is composed primarily by contoure ...
during the
Spanish colonial period in the Philippines. The art form is distinguished by the depiction of letters of the
alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letter (alphabet), letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from a ...
using a genre of painting that contoured shapes of human figures, animals, plants, and other objects called ''
Tipos del País'' popularized by
Damián Domingo
Damián Domingo y Gabor (February 12, 1796 – July 27, 1834) was the father of Philippine painting. Domingo established the official Philippine art academy in his residence in Tondo in 1821.
Biography
Damian Domingo was born in Tondo, Manila, an ...
. The letters depicted spell out a phrase or a name, usually that of the
patron
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...
who commissioned the work. The paintings were done with
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...
on
Manila paper
Manila paper () is a relatively inexpensive type of paper, generally made through a less-refined process than other types of paper, and is typically made from semi-bleached wood fibers.
The ''manila'' component of the name originates from man ...
. The earliest example of this art form dates from 1845; the latest existing specimens were completed during the latter portion of the American period in the 1930s during the administration of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines
The Commonwealth of the Philippines (; ) was an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territory and Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States that existed from 1935 to 1946. It was established following the ...
.
In 1995, an album of José Honorato Lozano's paintings were auctioned at
Christie’s
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by 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, Shanghai, and Dubai. It is owne ...
at the starting bid of
£300,000.
[
]
Examples
*The ''BALVINO MAURICIO'' was completed by José Honorato Lozano in November 1864 for its namesake, Balvino Mauricio, a Binondo
Binondo (; ) is a district in Manila and is referred to as the city's Chinatown. Its influence extends beyond to the places of Quiapo, Manila, Quiapo, Santa Cruz, Manila, Santa Cruz, San Nicolas, Manila, San Nicolas and Tondo, Manila, Tondo. ...
merchant who was later implicated in the 1872 Cavite mutiny
The Cavite mutiny (; ) was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort San Felipe, the Spanish arsenal in Cavite, Philippine Islands (then also known as part of the Spanish East Indies) on January 20, 1872. Around 200 locally recruited ...
. Measuring 93 cm x 113 cm, this painting depicts a Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
house of that time. This house is believed to be the same house described by José Rizal
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered a na ...
in the opening chapter of ''Noli Me Tángere''.
*The ''IMELDA ROMUALDEZ MARCOS'', of unknown provenance. Housed in the Malacañang Museum, it is believed to have been painted for former First Lady Imelda Marcos
Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power after her husband Ferdinand ...
. It depicts buildings and institutions established by her and Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...
.
* ''PASKO'' ( Filipino, "Christmas"), painted by Alvaro Jimenez in 1988 for the Ayala Museum
The Ayala Museum is a museum in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is run privately by the Ayala Foundation and houses archaeological, ethnographic, historical, fine arts, numismatics, and ecclesiastical exhibits. Since its establishment in ...
. It was printed as the museum's Christmas card
A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during ...
that same year.
See also
*Art of the Philippines
The arts in the Philippines reflect a range of artistic influences on the country's culture, including indigenous art. Philippine art consists of two branches: traditional and non-traditional art. Each branch is divided into categories and su ...
*Historiated initial
In a written or published work, an initial is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is ultimately derived from the Latin ''initiālis'', which means ''of the beginning ...
References
{{reflist
Philippine art
Visual arts genres
Painting