The National Museum of Fine Arts | Manila, Philippines
In my previous blog, I shared my experience with the National Anthropology Museum of the Philippines. This time, I will share the National Museum of Fine Arts of the Philippines, the home of the greatest art of Juan Luna, Historical artifacts, national costumes, textiles, and many more!
Facade of National Museum of Fine Arts
The design of this building is Neoclassical style inspired by the Greek and Roman, popular choice in the 20th century. It features beautiful columns with adornments of classic motifs.
To get to the museum, you need a government ID. For groups, one ID will suffice. Big bags will not be allowed and leave them on the baggage counter.
The first masterpiece
This is the first art that greeted us upon entering the building. This sculpture is humongous in real life. I was scared to go near it because I didn’t trust my clumsiness. 😆
“Diwata” was created by “Guillermo Tolentino in 1950 as a gift. A diwata in Philippine mythology is a beautiful woman associated with nature, somewhat the guardian of the forest. This masterpiece inspired me to delve into the world of sculpture, hehe. I was starstruck.
Spoliarium
At the back of the sculpture is the magnificent art of our national artist Juan Luna called Spoliarium. Spollarium depicts gladiators being dragged during Ancient Rome.
Juan Luna was born in Ilocos Norte, the northern part of the Philippines. He went to Europe to study more art in 1800.
This painting of him won the gold medal at the Exposition Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid. It gave immense pride and recognition to the country. The achievement of Luna gave Filipino artists to strive more for excellence in the domain of art.
Sculptures
Sculptures made in the 1930s. I am not too sure if these were just replicas or not. They were placed in hallways without any glass or protection. I was cautious not to bump them. Haha. 😆
![](https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/jijisaurart/23z7FkkSxvqykY4NzgEyguBx3nzS2DxVoiSbPHpVnXTvfsem8xBjp31tBxtGPy6nKwgm3.jpg)
The purple room
The purple walls displayed the different art of Juan Luna from childhood to his retirement. This room features his paintings of portraits, landscapes, and some unfinished works.
![](https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/jijisaurart/Eo6Luv6PAtBUQmqqHJ6bTy1gANDsvnR4uf5xehxV9XAYxTN5wTAGJxvTneKUt9tBUVL.jpg)
He mastered the realism art style evidently in this art. Aside from paintings, we learned about his personal life, career, and art contributions. Since he studied in Europe, his style was influenced by Romans as we can see in his great art piece Spoliarium and small paintings.
Portraits of Dr. Jose Rizal
Rizal is the national hero of the Philippines so, no wonder that some of his portraits and sculptures were displayed in the National Museum. These portraits were the works of great painters such as Fernando Amorsolo, Tomas Bernando, Isabelo Tampinco, and Graciano Nepomuceno.
Religious artifacts
The Philippines were colonized by different countries introducing religion to the island. Here are some of the artifacts from the 1500s-1800s preserved by the museum.
A real part of the church structure
Most were Spanish-influenced during the colonial period. The Spaniards introduced Catholicism thus we can see pictures of saints, biblical figures, and structures
Modern sculptures in the Philippines
This room displayed the different forms of modern sculptures of Filipino artists, whether made in metal, wood, or anything that can represent art.
![](https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/jijisaurart/EpA214UXHWEja4uUwHpxYbf1eiDk9ySDgiEU45AjnfQv8WGX1K6gzgWxzBXDLreBGyd.jpg)
We can see the evolution of art through the years by just looking at them. Since some were in the abstract form, we can create our interpretation of the art. Aside from the artistic side, I appreciate the technical skills such as putting the pieces together.
The sculptures may send a message to the viewer like social issues, culture, heritage, narratives, political statements, virtually anything that an artist can input into a work.
Theatrical materials
I believe this corner of the museum was under construction, but the exhibit was still displayed. The Barong Tagalog and Baro’t Saya are traditional clothes worn during the old times. It can be now seen in theatrical performances, folk dances, reenactments, and other purposes such as educational and cultural.
Senate Hall
It was called as such because it was then the senate hall of the old legislative building from 1926 to 1972. This is my personal favorite next to Juan Luna’s Spoliarium. The design is neoclassical which is matching with the building’s facade. What I like about it is the high ceiling, murals, and the details that go with the columns.
Overall, I enjoyed my trip to the National Museum. Half of me telling myself to enroll in a fine arts class, haha. 😆 Going here made me more inspired by the art treasures of great Filipino artists. The feeling was like stepping into the world of the best era of artsy peeps. I am so happy to actually see these masterpieces in real life. I am hoping to visit more museums in the future. 😊
Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: Some parts of the blog might be out of my knowledge or inputted the wrong description. Feel free to educate me. 😊
📸 All photos are owned and taken by me, otherwise credited. ©️jijisaurart
👾 NFT Showroom: nftshowroom.com/jijisaurart
🥰 Open for commissions!!! DM me at Discord! Username: jijisaur
Congratulations, your post has been added to WorldMapPin! 🎉
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
Congratulations, your post has been added to the TravelFeed Map! 🎉🥳🌴
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
- Go to TravelFeed Map
- Click the create pin button
- Drag the marker to where your post should be. Zoom in if needed or use the search bar (top right).
- Copy and paste the generated code in your post (any Hive frontend)
- Or login with Hive Keychain or Hivesigner and click "create post" to post to Hive directly from TravelFeed
- Congrats, your post is now on the map!
PS: Pinmapple is closing down and together with @worldmappin we are continuing Pinmapple's legacy. You can also import your previous Pinmapple posts to the TravelFeed map.Opt Out
To witness those arts is such a dream!! I love museums and arts!! Hope i can go there in the future :))
Yeah, I was like transported in the past! Such gems. 🥰
!PIZZA
Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Travel Digest #2230.
Your post has been manually curated by the @worldmappin team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!
Become part of our travel community:
Thank you so much!
$PIZZA slices delivered:
jijisaurart tipped douceink
eustace-kidd tipped jijisaurart
@jijisaurart(4/10) tipped @macchiata
jijisaurart tipped eustace-kidd
jijisaurart tipped ruffatotmeee
jijisaurart tipped demotry
Wahhhhhh, those sculptures are seriously a work of art. It's cool that they were place here, to be witnessed by arts enthusiast 😍🥂. I think kapag anjan ako matatakot din akong maglakad lakad dahil nakakatakot, haha. Baka dumali clumsiness kowww.
Hahaha. Yeah, I was always mindful of my space 😆 I don't want to pay a million peso for a small figurine haha.
!PIZZA
Nakapunta na ako dito eh, at ang masasabi ko lang, ang dulas ng sahig. HAHAHA..
Great pictures right there..
!PIZZA
True!! Too shiny! Hahah. But A for the effort of maintaining this place!
!PIZZA
ang ganda naman.
ang kulet, dildo na spiral. hahahahahaha.
kakatuwa ung barong na may words, parang ung mga damit ngayon na may quotes. uso na pala noon.
mag sculpt na po, galingan kumapa. 😆
But the barong with prints is way cooler than those of today. 😆
I'll maybe start with clay pots.
!PIZZA
Hahaha poor Link
The main hall looks really cool! I can sit there for hours and just day dreaming. The spanish influence are strong and they leave cool architect legacy.
Yeah! So many inspo to see here. 😊 Spanish colonized us for 300+ years so no wonder some of our local language is somewhat Spanish too.
!PIZZA
Congratulations @jijisaurart! Your post brought a smile to the TravelFeed team so we have sent you a smiley. Keep up the good job. 🙂
Thanks for using TravelFeed!
@for91days (TravelFeed team)
PS: Did you know that we launched the truvvl app? With truvvl, you can create travel stories on the go from your phone and swipe through nearby stories from other TravelFeed users. It is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Congratulations @jijisaurart! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 88000 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP