The embers of Philippine history are as colorful as the Filipinos regard for Philippine visual

arts. These types of artworks depict the inner political and socio-cultural views; as well as the
sentiments of a Filipino master painter, like Juan Luna. His Spoliarium was all about the
bloodied bodies of gladiators, who were drawn as slaves; and dragged away from the wide
and powerful arena as they attempted to fight their Roman oppressors, with their own
precious and God given lives. In addition, these slaves on this world-renowned painting of
Juan Luna were physically stripped of their clothing in order to gratify the lewd and devilish
contempt of those Roman oppressors. Thus, this had excellently embodied the essence of
the political, moral and social lives of the Filipino, based on the critical analysis of Dr. Jose
Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines; and a contemporary of Luna. According to the
author of Noli Me Tangere, the masterpiece of Juan Luna centered on the severe ordeal of
the Filipino nation, in which its encompassing human nature, had never been regained.

Also, his Spoliarium had provided a distinctive picture and persona of an open struggle
against reason and idealism, which were coupled with justice, fanaticism and cases of
prejudice. Historically, the Spoliarium was a remarkable painting which was submitted by
the young and genius Juan Luna at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes, in the capital
city of Spain in 1884. Due to its tremendous interpretations of the sociological situations in
the Philippines, the said masterpiece had bagged the first three gold medals out of the
numerous and much coveted citations for painting excellence. Conversely, the Spoliarium of
Juan Luna was sold for 20,000 pesetas to Diputaciom Provincial de Barcelona. Hence, the
said genial craftsmanship of Luna can be found at the National Museum in the Philippines.
“Would you believe?” If anyone of you will visit the said national depository of the Filipino
nation, this masterpiece of his would be the first thing that visitors and spectators alike,
would ever see. Wonderful and impressive, isn’t it?

The Making of Spoliarium

Based on historical accounts, the young and brilliant Juan Luna had spent almost eight
months of his fruitful life, to finally finish the historically significant Spoliarium. Thus, to
make it a world-class work of art, it was painted on a very large canvass with utmost love,
care and beyond compare perfection. To prove this astonishing impression by the author of
this article, a famous Filipino historian by the name of Ambeth Ocampo had once said, “The
fact that remains that when Juan Luna and Felix R. Hidalgo won the top awards in the Madrid
Exposition of 1884, they had proved to the world that indios can, despite their supposed
barbarian race, paint better than the Spaniards who colonized them.”

The Significant Influence of Spoliarium in Rizal’s Nationalistic Ideals

Of course, even if Rizal was a genius in a very subtle way, the greatest influence of
Spoliarium can never be denied nor eradicated, from his conscious and critical views of the
socio-political realities in the Philippines. In line with this, he had proudly lauded this
momentous achievement of Juan Luna alongside with Felix Hidalgo, during an exclusive
gathering of expatriates which were incidentally, all Filipinos. With this magnificent painting,
Rizal was happy to know that at long last, there were Filipino artists who had bluntly fought
the tyrannical regime of the Spaniards through a simple; but, meaningful work of art.

How Did Juan Luna Perceive His Well-Deserved Recognition for Spoliarium?

The National Commission on Culture and the Arts had said on their article and critical
analysis about “The Spoliarium”, Juan Luna never claimed that this masterpiece of his was
not just a glorious achievement. Instead, it was more of a patriotic duty. In support of this
very wittingly thought of statement, he became an active member of the band of Filipino
intellectuals in Europe, which was generously and solely dedicated to the undying principles
of Filipino nationalism, during the early months of the 1880’s and 1890’s. Among the
brainchild of this organization were Rizal, del Pilar and Graciano Lopez Jaena. On the
contrary, even if he had sweetly and painstakingly labored in the Salons of Europe, it was
ultimately for the reason of proving that the Filipinos or indios were capable of being
intellectually competitive, as other foreigners could also be. In addition, his contemporary
nationalists had grown out to be more than what are expected of them. Above all,
his Spoliarium was his own magnificent view of nationalism. In a more explicit
interpretation, the Spoliarium was Juan Luna himself; and his colorful ways of putting into a
canvass the real essence of nationalism with burning blazes of pride and self- respect.

Why Was the Spoliarium the Best Work of Juan Luna?

Spoliarium was the best masterpiece of Juan Luna, because it had perfectly exemplified
what it takes to be a world- renowned painter at a very young age of 24. Best of all, his
artwork was able to surpass beyond expectations the works of both the Spanish and Italian
painting masters during his time. While in Rome, he was able to integrate, the classical
masterpieces of Michelangelo and Rafael to make the Spoliarium as glaringly excellent as
the freedom of his fellow Filipinos. Imagine this. He had explored successfully the historical
beauty and significance of his creativity, on a large canvass which had measurements of 4×7
meters. Without expecting much from this piece of historical interest, it had become an
immediate and overnight sensation for the Filipino people in those times of political
uncertainties. The major reasons behind these unforgettable adulations for Juan Luna can
be clearly divided into two major things: First, it had unquestionably bagged the first three
Gold Medals in the said global and prestigious competition. Second, it had gained
international prominence among newspaper columns in Madrid, Barcelona and Paris.

What Did They Say about the Spoliarium?

To those people who had nothing more to say about Juan Luna on a personal level, they
had cited his Spoliarum’s unforgettable rendezvous with colors and canvass as:

 It was more than a painting; it is a book and a poem at the same time
 It had showed that Luna was more than just a painter, he was a legendary thinker.
 It was not just mere mechanism of a genius
 The said artwork was able to reflect the other unique personalities of Juan Luna- a
prolific artist with so much ambitions in life
 Spoliarium is an art giant which can be likened to Hercules, of Greek Mythology,
who has a kind of strength that is truly beyond compare
Indeed, the Spoliarium of Juan Luna gave him the chance to tell the whole world that
painting is not a mere art of mixing and integrating different colors; to make a masterpiece
livelier and more historically relevant. . But it is an expression of one’s idea of liberty, self-
respect and his or her dynamic views about the varying social ills of a nation like the
freedom loving Philippines had gone through the years. After going through this article,
“Would you want to become another Juan Luna in the near future?”

“Spoliarium” by Filipino artist Juan Luna is a manifestation of the romantic period primarily because
of the visual elements depicted in the painting. Unlike the neoclassical piece Oath of the Horatii, the
colors seen in the Spoliarium are indistinct and not as solid, which blend into the chiaroscuro or play
of light and dark. The scene is quite chaotic, depicting fallen gladiators being dragged mercilessly
across the chamber floor by their Roman oppressors – the characters have no emotional restraint
whatsoever, conveying the pain and anguish suffered by the gladiators. At the same time, the focal
point portrays the act of struggle between the Roman soldiers, because of the evidence of diagonal
lines that bring into scene a form of action. To the left side of the painting, a crowd of men can be
seen cheering and spectating the bloody sight. To the right side, in extreme contrast, the painting
displays a woman crouched down weeping on the floor. It is clearly seen how Luna appealed to
emotions unlike classical artists whose characters possess emotional restraint. As mentioned above,
the whole painting rejects the precepts of order and harmony, because of the immediate denotation
of the bloody bodies, the Roman soldiers, the weeping woman, and many more aspects of the
painting, which actually establish a powerful connotation. The Spoliarium is usually interpreted as a
visual metaphor/representation of the suffering the Filipino people experienced during the Spanish
colonial period. This has become the unthinking interpretation of most Filipinos when faced with the
painting, without their own sense of understanding. However, to truly understand the piece in an
artistic sense and to appreciate its sublimity, the interpretation of the Spoliarium must not be handed
to us or answered for us. In my personal analysis of the painting, the Spoliarium speaks generally of
the prejudices that lie in society (portrayed by the gladiators, as the slaves while the Roman soldiers
are the oppressors) and how superiority dominates and divides humanity. Injustices are done to
those without power that try to fight for their liberties, but instead, are tossed into the dark as others
simply spectate without much concern towards the repressed. These apathetic spectators are
symbolized by the cheering crowd on the left that wait for what is to happen next to the gladiators.
Furthermore, the mourning lady, to me, represents the suffering of the marginalized or those who
were unable to take action during Luna’s time (i.e. women and children) and could only bear to
watch the carnage of human rights being violated – whether it be against them or against the people
close to them. This piece inspires, because it does not hold back from the realistic portrayal of
suffering that must have been undergone and does not romanticize the torture that can be seen not
only in the painting, but also in the world around us.

The Spoliarium by Juan Luna is truly an overwhelming type of art.

You’d be left in awe at the mere sight of it. It makes you feel proud
to be a Filipino and it’s also proof that Filipino’s can do amazing
things.

The painting features a glimpse of Roman history centered on the

bloody carnage brought by gladiatorial matches. Spoliarium is a
Latin word referring to the basement of the Roman Colosseum
where the fallen and dying gladiators are dumped and devoid of
their worldly possessions. The paintings shows how once the
gladiators die, for the entertainment of Rome, they’re just dumped
there and the spectators just take their possessions while their
loved ones cry and mourn. Juan Luna used this as a form to
indiscreetly tell the suffering of the Filipino’s from the Spaniards
as they also sort of treat them like the Roman gladiators.

These battles are usually fights to the death of one participant which instantly determine the winner.
Spectators on the other hand, are the ones who manipulate the games by observing and determining who
abides the law or rules of the battle. If you take a look at the right most side of the painting, you’d find a
woman whose back is turned in front of us. What the painting presents is the atrocious and vile behavior
of Romans which led to countless amount of widows that are left alone. Due to the crowd’s
positive feedback and reactions, gladiatorial fights aren’t even forbidden but are even more utilized.

The Spoliarium represents various emotions being portrayed especially during that period wherein people
are too brutal and vicious to value the importance of life and how huge an impact it leaves to a lot of
people and this is being presented by the woman in the portrait. The dragging of the body of the gladiator
shows how useless they find one’s life is which is why they exploit it more often just for the entertainment
of the Romans.

scenarios like this in our time today has been happening in various ways. Maltreatment and torments are
still present which have been increasing in numbers; even fighting never left human desire whether we
admit it of not. It has been planted within every human being that fighting is naturally present in our blood
and history proves itself and the present.