Title: Spoliarium

Artist: Juan Luna

Date: 1884
Medium: Oil on Canvas

Last January 22, 2011 Saturday the Manila trip for Humanities 2 class was held. I was
really pleased to the art works in the museums and in the church which we have visited. We had
a chance to see for ourselves the larger than life painting of Juan Luna well known Filipino
artist whose talent is recognized by the whole world, exhibited in the National Art Gallery. And
for me it was the best art work that I really appreciated it is a very historical and striking painting
which was awarded a gold medal in the 1884 National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid, Spain.
The art work that I am talking about is the world famous Spoliarium.
This masterpiece portrays the time in history when the Romans traveled to Europe and
collected slaves, otherwise known as the Vikings or Gladiators, to entertain other people in
Rome. The more powerful Romans created the Viking Games where Vikings or Gladiators
fought, not on their own accord, but forced by the Romans. The Viking slaves battled either wild
animals or each other. It was extremely bloody and that is why they had the Spoliarium. It was
said that it was used to let the corpses to be thrown in piles and let them spoil or be decomposed
and let the birds or animals which will be used in the other battles feed on these flesh.
According to our museum tour guide, Juan Luna was known for using dark colors and a
lot of shadows. The dominant colors used in this painting were red, black, brown and white. And
as to what I have observed that there are groups of people maybe from different social status and
races beside the dead bodies being dragged into the darkness who are maybe just merely
watching and those whose were still joyful as to what the dead gladiator has fated.
Yes the artwork looks bloody and scary but still it gives this feeling that you wanted to go
inside the painting and help those gladiators. Then I thought that maybe this was also the reason
why Juan Luna painted this not just for the National Exposition but also for the current state of
our country during the Spanish colonization era. Even though this is my second time to see this
masterpiece, I still cant help myself but to be completely astonished as I look at this wonderful
creation by our fellow Filipino hundred years ago.