Hispanic Traditions and Transformations in Philippine Visual Arts

(1521 Onward)

In the 16th century, Spain colonized the islands they would eventually call Las Islas
Filipinas. Spanish colonizers aimed to replace indigenous culture with one in the image and
likeness of Europe. Art became a handmaiden of religion, serving to propagate the Catholic
faith and thus support the colonial order at the same time. However, in time, what resulted was
not a Western culture, but a colonial culture marked by a fusion of indigenous and Western
elements.

When Spanish missionaries embarked on their campaign to Christianize the Filipinos, they
harnessed the visual arts to great effect. The colorful pageantry of the Roman Catholic Church
helped the new evangelists to win over the natives to the new faith. Religion was thereafter
to provide such great impetus for the visual arts that in virtually every art form the sacred aspect
became far more developed than the secular, thus continuing the intimate relationship between
art and religion long established in ancient Filipino belief systems.

Rituals and processions were the first visual aids. From the technologies used in
crafting ritual paraphernalia developed the various visual art forms that characterized the
Spanish colonial period: sculpture, painting, printmaking, furniture, fine metalwork, metal
casting, textile arts, and fiesta décor.

A. Sculpture

Though the ethnic art forms such as pottery, weaving and metalwork done in a communal
spirit and community setting for rituals were retained. Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in 1521,
newer art forms and styles in the arts were introduced to propagate the Catholic faith through
sacred images called santos. Strict supervision and production of the arts were managed by the
friars until the 19th century mainly for ecclesiastical use.

The Spanish missionaries used carved images to explain the concepts behind Catholicism,
and to tell the stories of Christ, Virgen Maria, and the saints. The carving of anitos were
transformed into carved santos. Santos were carved from hardwoods, such as molave, and ivory
placed on church facades and sanctuaries, retablos, and miniature altars at home. Houses of the
ilustrados (Filipinos with money and education) display their santos with miniature altarpieces with
niches called urnas, while others were protected under cylindrical glass, called virinas.

In 1521, the first santo brought by the Spanish in the Philippines as a gift of
Ferdinand Magellan to Hara Amihan (Juana), King Humabon’s wife was
the Santo Niño de Cebu. Of the figures of Christ, among the most revered
is the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, Manila brought from Mexico by the
Augustinian Recollects on May 31, 1606.

Santo Niño de Cebu Black Nazarene of

Quiapo
Early 16th century
Wood
90 cm in height Poong Itim na
Basilica Minore del Sto. Nazareno ng Quiapo
Niño, Cebu City
Early 1600s

Minor Basilica of the

Photo: Black Nazarene,
The Augustinian Parish of Saint John
Province of Santo the Baptist
Niño de Cebu-Philippines Quiapo, Manila
Provincialate Offices

In 1626, another well-known santo was the image of the Immaculate Conception known
as Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage) of Antipolo,
Rizal brought from Acapulco, Mexico by Gov. General Juan de Tabora. The virgen
accompanied the galleon La Encarnacion from Manila to Acapulco trade for seafarers’ guidance
and protection in their perilous expedition. According to popular belief it was named Virgen de
Antipolo because it twice disappeared from the shrine and reappeared on top of the Tipolo tree.
 Also known as Birhen ng Antipolo (Virgin of Antipolo)
Early 17th century
Wood
Approximately 120 cm in height
Antipolo City, Rizal Province

The Spanish friars established and supervised carving the interior and the exterior
of churches. The grandest interior carvings are the altarpieces called retablos (cabinet or niches
for the saints) which houses the tabernaculo, the patron saint, and the orderly hierarchy of
saints depending on the devotions of the parishioners. Retablos became the central point inside
every Catholic churches.

The earliest known and most elaborate is the retablo

of the San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila
said to have been carved in circa 1620 by Juan de
los Santos (c. 1590-1660), a native of San Pablo,
Laguna. The retablo of San Agustin Church became
then the standard model replicated all over the
islands.

Exterior carvings were also introduced to embellish churches. Stone cutters use
adobe, coral stone, and volcanic rock to exhibit figures of saints, floral and leaf decorations.

The façade of Miag-ao Church in Iloilo highlights their town’s patron, San Cristobal
dressed in native costume, clutching a coconut tree flanked by guava and palm trees, and
carrying the Christ Child on his shoulder.

Facade details of the Roman Catholic Church of

Santo Tomas de Villanueva in Miag-ao, Iloilo

Built 1786 to 1797

Photo: Betty Lalana and Lino Arboleda,

Ortigas Foundation Library Collection

Filipinos’ ingenuity in wood carvings was reflected not only on retablos but from other
religious furnishing such as church doors, pulpits, and carrozas (processional carriages) or
andas (platforms). Carrozas or andas are made chiefly for processions brought around town
during Lent and Fiestas.
 During this period the ivory santos from the elephant tusks from Africa and India,
fishbones and teeth of dugong or sea cow was phenomenal. The Chinese were the ones who
taught ivory carvings to the Filipinos. Ivory santos made by the Filipinos have Oriental
features – oval face, heavy lidded almond eyes, stiff postures – designed as gifts and
souvenirs to Spain and Mexico. As such, only the heads, hands, and feet were made of ivory
attached to carved wooden body bedecked with vestments and fine jewels.

A fine example is the 1593 commissioned set of

ivory head and hands of the Nuestra Señora del
Santisimo Rosario (Our Lady of the Holy
Rosary) or commonly known as La Naval revered
in the San Domingo Church in Quezon City.

(Lady of the Navy) aka Nuestra Señora del Santisimo

Rosario (Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary)
1593
ivory and wood
136 cm
Unknown Chinese artist
Roman Catholic Parish Church of Santo Domingo
Quezon City

Among the notable ivory carvers were Juan de los Santos of San Pablo,
Laguna for his flawless crucifix at the Museum of San Agustin Church,
Intramuros, Manila, and Lencio Asuncion of Sta Cruz, Manila for his Sto.
Cristo Expirante (Expiring Christ) and La Purisima Corazon de Maria
(Immaculate Heart of Mary) at the Ayala Museum, Makati.

Sto. Cristo Expirante La Purisima Corazon de Maria

 All Christianized regions such as Ilocos, Central Luzon, and Visayas such as Cebu,
Bohol, Samar, and Leyte have respective santeros (carvers). True to its tradition until present,
Paete in Laguna was known to be the focal point of all. Paete woodcarvers were known for
making life-size or larger highly realistic and expressive santos. They are the ones who innovated
santos with movable, ball-and-socket joints shoulder, knees, elbows, gestured fingers, and
constant trademark for expressive sad eyes.

The prominent Paete woodcarvers known in this period were Mariano

Madriñan and Bartolome Palatino. Mariano Madriñan was renowned for
his Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother) carved from Batikulung wood and
won gold medal in Amsterdam Universal Exposition in 1883. While
Bartolome Palatino was distinguished when he was commissioned to
renovate the façade and bell tower of the St. Jerome church of Morong,
Rizal from 1850 to 1853.

Church and convento of San Geronimo in Morong, Rizal, ca1615

B. Painting

Philippine painting during Spanish rule may be classified as two-dimensional artistic

expressions on a flat surface depicting prevalently on saints and religious scenes, historical
paintings, portraits, nudes, and interiors.

In 1821, the first art school in the Philippines was

established, the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura,
headed by Damian Domingo. The Academia
focused on the “academic style” of painting icons,
everyday scenes, landscapes, and still life favored by
the church, the government and the middle class.

Damian Domingo, self-portrait, circa 1830

(Photo from CCP Collections)

Religious paintings are used for decorating churches, convents, rectories, monasteries,
schools, and private residences. Religious paintings are purely Biblical scenes and
hagiographies (lives of the saints). Common Biblical themes are the Belen or depicting the
Holy Family (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph), and the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) portraying the
Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ.
 The prominent religious painters are muralist, Jose Dans of Paete, Laguna and
portraitist Justiniano Asuncion of Sta. Cruz, Manila. Jose Dans was attributed for
his four (4) life-size murals at Santiago Apostol Church in Paete, Laguna: Juicio
final (Last Judgment, 1720), San Cristobal (fresco on plaster, 1780), San
Cristobal (oil on panel, 1840), and El cielo, el paraiso, el purgatorio y el infierno
(Heaven, Paradise, Purgatory, and Hell, 1850). On the other hand, Justiniano
Asuncion was recognized for his realistic portrait entitled Nuestra Señora De La
Paz y Buen Viaje de Antipolo or Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage of
Antipolo (Oil and Casein on Paper, 1870), now a private collection of Leandro V.
Locsin (National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture,1990).

El cielo, el paraiso, el purgatorio y el infierno Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje de Antipolo
(Heaven, Paradise, Purgatory, and Hell)

Historical paintings are large scale compositions of great, real and legendary human
figures representing extracts from history of civilizations, the Bible, and Graeco-Roman
Mythology. Historical paintings were intended to strengthen the moral fiber of a nation on values
concerning bravery, integrity, loyalty, generosity, and patriotism.

Historical painters of this period include Juan Novicio Luna of Badoc, Ilocos
Norte and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo of Binondo, Manila. Juan Luna
executed his awarded winning paintings in Exposición Nacional de Bellas
Artes (National Exposition of Fine Arts) in Madrid, Spain, namely, La Muerte
de Cleopatra (The Death of Cleopatra; Oil on Canvas), silver medalist or
second prize winner in 1881 and the Spoliarium (Oil on Canvas) which won
him the first gold medal in 1884, now a national cultural treasure in the
National Museum of the Philippines.

La Muerte de Cleopatra
(The Death of Cleopatra)

Oil on canvas

Museo Nacional del Prado

Madrid, Spain
 Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo became well-known for his rendition of Las
Virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho (Christian Virgins Exposed
to the Populace; Oil on Canvas) which won silver medal during the 1884
Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Exposition of Fine Arts) in
Madrid, Spain now a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Collection, and the El
asesinato del Gobernador Bustamante (The Assassination of Governor
Bustamante; Oil on Canvas, 1884) now a national cultural treasure at the
National Museum of the Philippines.

Las Virgenes Cristianas

expuestas al populacho

Christian Virgins Exposed

to the Populace

Oil on canvas

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Collection

El Asesinato del Gobernador Fernando

Bustamante y su Hijo

The Assassination of Governor Fernando

Bustamante and Son

Oil on canvas

National Museum of the Philippines

Collection

Portraiture gained recognition with the rise of rich and educated Filipinos. The wealthy
classes showcase their fine and luxurious intricate embroidery, jewelries, and expensive
accessories. Portraits are always accomplished with the subjects sitting in frequent sessions
which realistically show his/her physical features and defects, and personal characteristics.
Portraitures have various functions to a person, such as a souvenir for the family circle, a
commemoration of ancestors, and a representation of one’s prestige and prominence in
the society. Portraitists became well-known in the cities and provinces due to the generosity of
the elite as their patrons.

Among the distinguished 19th century portraitists were Juan Arceo (1785-
1870), Simon Flores (1839-1902) and Severino Pablo (1800-1870) all from
Paco, Manila, Antonio Malantic (1820-1886), Justiniano Asuncion (1816-
1896) of Santa Cruz, Manila, and Dionisio de Castro.

Their major works include, Arceo’s earliest portrait of Abp. Fray Juan
Antonio Zulaybar (Signed and Dated, 1820, UST Museum of Arts and
Sciences, Manila), Malantics’ Inocencia Francia (Oil on Canvas, 1876,
 Leandro V. Locsin Collection), Pablo’s Bp. Juan Jose Aragones (Oil on
Canvas, 1865, Archbishop’s Palace in Vigan, Ilocos Sur), Flores’ The
Quiason Family (Oil on Canvas, 1880, Leandro V. Locsin’s Collection), de
Castro’s Soteriana Puson y Quintos de Ventenilla (Oil on Canvas, 1892,
Central Bank of the Philippines Collection), and Asuncion’s Romana
Asuncion-Carillo (Oil on Canvas, 1870, Leandro V. Locsin Collection).

Romana Carillo

Oil on canvas

Leandro V. Locsin Collection

Nude paintings refer to male and female figures with historical and mythical narratives in
the 19th century. Artists like Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo boldly introduced this
form with the influence of their European academies. Juan Luna’s Odalisque and Hidalgo’s
Artista y modelo (The Artist and his Model) used female subjects as emphases to their obra.

Odalisque

1885

Don Luis Araneta Collection

Genre paintings depict people in their collective everyday activities with full of movements,
and lively sense of community. Genre paintings characterize subjects using oil, tempera, and
watercolor in their diverse social classes, occupations, and costumes.

Genre painters in their watercolor paintings include Damian Domingo (1800-

1834) of Tondo, Manila with his, Una india ollera de Pasig (A pot vendor
from Pasig) and Una Mestiza de Manila vestida de gala (A Mestiza from
Manila in Her Sunday Best) and Jose Lozano (1821-1885) of Manila in his
letras y figuras entitled Francisco Garcia Ortiz (Watercolor on Manila
Paper, 1863, Eleuterio Pascual Collection).
 Una Mestiza de Manila vestida de gala
A Mestiza from Manila in Her Sunday Best

circa 1830

Water based tempera on pith paper

Paulino and Hetty Que Collection

Francisco Garcia Ortiz

circa 1854-1963

Watercolor on Manila paper

Eleuterio M. Pascual Collection

Interior paintings include interior furnishings and various ornaments within a domestic
house or a building. It also represents the interests, tastes, and temperaments of the persons
dwelling in a structure.

Perfect examples are Juan Luna’s Tampuhan (Lovers’ Quarrel, 1895, Oil on
Canvas, Private Collection) depicting fine ilustrado couple dressed for a
fiesta and the interior of bahay na bato, the typical ilustrado mansion, and
Jose Lozano’s Balvino Mauricio (1864, Oil on Canvas, Alejandro Roces
Collection) rendering the most complete interior of a 19 th century rich upper-
class house.

Tampuhan

Oil on canvas

Private Collection
 C. Printmaking

Printmaking is an art form consisting of the production of images, usually on paper but
occasionally on fabric, parchment, plastic, or other support, under the direct supervision of or by
the hand of the artist. In the 18th century, printmaking in the Philippines is a facet of illustrative
books on alphabets and languages, catechetical books, and prayer books. Various techniques
were employed during the Spanish era, namely: Xylography or woodcutting, copper
engraving, wood engraving, and lithography.

Xylography is the art of printing from wood carving a still surface, such as wood and metal,
to paper or cloth by means of pressure. The process was extended to the making of religious
pictures. Engravers became more skillful; the text finally became more important than the
illustration on several pages of religious works or compendiums in Latin and Spanish.

Xylography or woodblock is a Chinese method of printing using cut wood blocks designed
for the size of two book pages. The surface of the wood is coated with rice paste for fastening
previously designed paper. The reverse design is then carved after which the pasted paper is
wiped off. The uncarved images are applied with ink and carefully pressed on a paper, using ball
of cloth, until the design is transferred.

The earliest printed works using xylographic method completed from 1592-
1593 attributed to the Dominican friar Francisco Blancas de San Jose and
a carver, Juan de Vera are: Beng Sim Po Cam (Catechism in Chinese),
Doctrina Christiana en lengua Española y Tagala (Christian Doctrine in
Spanish and Tagalog Languages) with its artistic front cover print of St.
Dominic , Doctrina Christiana en letra y lengua China (Christian Doctrine
in the Chinese Script and Language) with the coat of arms of the Dominican
Order in its cover, and the Tratado de la doctrina de la Santa iglesia y de
la ciencias naturales or Shih-lu (Treatise on the Doctrine of the Holy
Church and Natural Sciences) with a Dominican monk, a Chinese in
traditional costume, the Great Wall of China, and other western architecture.

The first book published in

Tagalog, the Doctrina Christiana
was a handbook that taught the native Tagalog
the rudiments of the Catholic faith.

Published 1593

Photo: Cultural Center of the Philippines

Among the outstanding printers from 1600 – 1604 are Tomas Pinpin with his seal
of San Agustin in Arte de Lengua Iloco (Grammar of the Ilocano Language,
1627), Simon Pinpin’s catafalque of Prince Baltazar Carlos (1649), and Gaspar
de los Reyes’ coat of arms of Baltazar de Medina in Sermon de la Inmaculada
Concepcion (Homily on the Immaculate Conception, 1672)

Copperplate engraving is a technique of making prints from metal plates into which a
design has been cut with a cutting tool called a burin or graver. Modern examples are almost
invariably made from copper plates; hence the process is also called copperplate engraving.
Another term for the process is line engraving, derives from the fact that this technique reproduces
only linear marks.

The earliest known copper engravers are the obra maestra of Jun Correa in
his Virgin in the Temple for the 2nd edition of the las ordenanzas y
constitutions de la hermanidad de la misericordia (Rules and
Construction of the Fraternity of Mercy, 1701), and the engraving of San
Pedro Martyr Sanz in the book La Christianidad de Fogan (The Christianity
of Fogan, 1748, Lopez Memorial Museum Collection).

Another renowned maestro on copper is Laureano Atlas (1738-1771) in his

portrait of Abp Juan Angel Rodriguez (1743, Lopez Memorial Museum
Collection) and the Verdadera ymagen de la Nuestra Señora del Rosario
de la Naval (Authentic Portrait of Our Lady of the Rosary of La Naval, 1759,
Intramuros Administration Collection).

Verdadera Ymagen de la Nuestra Señora del

Rosario de la Naval
(Authentic Portrait of Our Lady of the Rosary of La
Naval)

1759

Copper engraving on silk

Intramuros Administration collection

D. Furniture

Furniture refers to household equipment, usually made of wood, metal, plastics, marble,
glass, fabrics, or related materials and having a variety of different purposes. The functional and
decorative aspects of furniture have been emphasized throughout the Spanish era according to
economics and fashion. Furniture is classified in three categories: for keeping things in, for
resting on, and for arranging things in.

The earliest furniture for storing things in are baul (wooden chest), aparador (large
cabinet for church silver utensils and ornaments, and for household bedrooms), comoda (upright
chest for table linens), cajonerias (bulky chest for altar cloths and priest’s vestments), painadora
(dresser surmounted by mirror), tremora (dresser with three full-length mirrors), almario (cabinet
for pillows, mosquito nets, mats and other bedclothes).

The furniture for resting on are classified as chairs, benches, sofas, and beds. Chairs
for bishops, priests and sacristans with solihiya (woven rattan) at their backs are called
frailero. Planter’s reclining chair for relaxation is called butaca or silla perezosa (lazy chair).
Ground chairs for visitors and tenants are called bancos or kapiyas. Sofa for living room
with butterfly shape at its back is called mariposa.
 Mariposa Sofa

3rd Quarter of the 19th century

While the furniture for laying things on are the dining tables such as, dulang (low table)
is the traditional Filipino table, consolas (side tables), escoritorios (office table with roll-up desk),
and lavaderas (bedroom table with basin for washing).

E. Fine Metalwork

Gold and silver are the most prestigious metals for ornaments for personal items,
ecclesiastical vessels, and household use.

Rich and educated Filipinos or upper class wore personal items crafted in gold and
silver. Among the personal items for upper class women include peinata (comb), pantoche
(pin for veil), criollas or aretes (hoop earrings), gargantilla (necklace), panuelo (shoulder scarf),
alfiler (pin for shoulder scarf), anillos (finger rings), pulseras (bracelets for wrists), porta
abanico (fan chain dangling on one wrist), Ilavero (keyholder attached at skirt waist), colchos
(slippers). For the upper-class gentlemen include baston (walking staff), and the cairel (watch
chain).

The sacred vessels of the church on the other hand were designed and formed in gold
and silver. Sacred metals are to be made from precious metals generally called alhajas. The
church registers alhajas in three (3) categorized namely: alhajas de oro (pure gold or gold plated),
alhajas de plata (silver), and alhajas de cobre (copper).

In accordance with the church law, the sacred vessels are

held in special honor in which bread and wine are offered and
consecrated, and from which they are consumed. Under the
category alhajas de oro, the most exquisite are the caliz y patena
(chalice and paten): the chalice is a sacred vessel in which the
Eucharistic wine is consecrated at Mass,
while the paten holds the bread before and
after consecration, the copon (ciborium) is
a covered container which holds small
hosts to be consecrated for communion
and for reservation in the tabernacle, the
custodia (monstrance) is designed to expose the
consecrated Host to the faithful either for adoration or
procession, and pyz (pyx) is a watch-shaped metal case
in which the sacred Host is kept or carried for Communion
privately to the sick.

The alhajas de plata of the church are the sagrario

(tabernacle) a round, square or rectangular receptacle that
serves as a place for exclusive reservation of the Blessed
Sacrament, the candeleros (candlesticks), the
incensario (thurible or censer) used during the solemn
celebrations of Mass, benediction, processions, and other
liturgical functions, the naveta (incense boat) is a small
oblong receptacle in the shape of a boat which holds the
incense, the acetre (aspersory) is a metal container holy water, the aspergillum
(sprinkler) is a metal with a hollow handle and a ball-shaped top used to sprinkle
holy water, the ciriales (processional cross and candles on long poles) carried
by the sacristans, the cruets (bottles intended to contain the wine and water for
mass), and aureola (halo) and corona (crown) of the santo.

Bells of various sizes and weights during the Spanish period were cast. Bells are hanged
in towers or in wooden scaffolds mainly to summon the Christians to prayer, warn the citizens
in terms of war and tragic incidents, and toll the changing phases of person’s human life.
There are four types of church bells: the campana (large bell) hung from a beam and rung by
means of pulling clapper against the mouth of the bell, the esquilla (second large bells) are
rotated and propelled by using wooden yoke attached to the bells head, the rueda (wheel of bells)
are series of small bells on a wheel heard during Easter and Christmas seasons, and the
campanilla (handbell) rang by a sacristan during consecration and other rituals.

The oldest known bell in the Philippines is found in Camalaniugan, Cagayan dated
1595.

The Sancta Maria bell (center) was forged in 1595, making it the oldest church bell in Southeast Asia.

The brick belfry of San Jacinto de Polonia Church houses the oldest Catholic church bell in SE Asia.