Spoliarium is one of the most famous paintings in the Philippines. It was painted by a Filipino artist or painter and in 1886, it was rewarded the first gold medal out of three from the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes, then afterwards, In 1886, the paint was sold to the Diputación Provincial de Barcelona for 20,000 pesetas and it is currently hanged in the main gallery at the ground floor of the National Museum of the Philippines, and it is the very first pain which buys visitors’ interest, entertain and greets or honor in the gallery. Spoliarium, the paint, shows how the Filipinos were treated before when they were colonized by Spaniards. It shows that they were forced to entertain the Roman oppressors and the Spaniards with their lives and sacrifice themselves for the Roman’s and Spaniard’s honor. Furthermore, they were just treated as if they value less than animals. In fact, the hero, Jose Rizal, noted while he was giving his speech that Spoliarium, represented the significance and essence of the Filipino’s social, moral and political life that includes humanity in severe ordeal, humanity unredeemed, reason and idealism in open struggle with prejudice, fanaticism and justice. He actually indicated the purpose of Juan Luna for painting Spoliarium which is painted to awaken Filipinos from ignorance, blindness, mental darkness and oppression. They both knew that Filipinos are lagged behind compared to other countries due to being colonized. Hence, I assume that while Rizal was trying to enlighten Filipinos through speech and writing, Juan Luna was trying to awaken or rouse Filipinos from oppression through his painting which is Spoliarium. Basically, Spoliarium is emphasized the violation of human rights towards the colonizers of Spain and Juan Luna expressed his patriotism through it.
Moreover, he created such a harmonious relationships between different colors such as between the red color in the center with the shade of green in the dark sides. In addition, through producing well-balanced lights, he was able to point out the interest of the paint which is the horror of dragged corpses and the mourning lady and because of the effect of the light; it created divisions in the painting. Hence, it catches more interest and attention of people. Furthermore, the shape applied in there makes it more harmonious. In fact, the corpses that are being dragged by the oppressors are painted with a ratio of 9:1 which means the bodies of the corpses are drawn nine times bigger than that of the head and same for the others and this is for the effect of more realistic expression of human body which highlights real life. On top of it, the line is a very importance element in painting. Actually, Juan Luna used diagonal lines and those lines create formation of triangular patterns that emphasize stability of the painting. Therefore, Spoliarium becomes a united one with asymmetrical patterns of components and this asymmetrical pattern provides a comparison between light and darkness. As all of this factors combined, the message of this painting which is human rights violation is well-pointed out.
As I conclude, I want to announce that this kind of situation which is demonstrated in the painting is still happening in our world today. As we see or hear the news about corruption, exploitation, war and etc. we can confirm that there is still high possibility of that the more powerful countries might attempt to colonize or overrule other less powerful countries. This is also because human’s greed prides or wishes still exist that we cannot deny that there is not. Consequently, I ask everyone not to think about their own benefit but see the society as a whole and the power of their country or society as their own power and pride.
yoongippeum 