A Lucky Find | National Museum of Fine Arts, Manila

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What I know is that most of Manila's city destinations are just walking distance from each other. From Rizal Park, we initially thought of walking to Intramuros and Fort Santiago which are just less than 1.5km away, but unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate that afternoon. Right when we were about to finish touring Rizal Park, the rain teased us.

It was already drizzling by the time we realized we won't make it to Intramuros that day. We checked Google Maps what other destinations we can pay a visit that are nearer to Rizal Park.

Lo and behold, despite the rain slowly soaking us wet, we eventually found our way to the National Museum of Fine Arts located on Padre Burgos Avenue, Ermita, Manila. We almost got into trouble for walking through a private golf course just in front of the museum. Lol! 🤣

From afar, the museum commands respect with its massive, sturdy, and well-kept structure. I didn't think of art when I first saw it; I thought of Malacañang or some other government offices.

I don't know if it's a school requirement or if it's just a trend for teenagers these days. Nevertheless, I was sort of glad to see teenagers flocked that afternoon to the museum.

Upon arrival at the museum's entrance, the security guard will just look for your ID but there's no entrance fee. Then we wrote our names in the registry and that's it!

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Let the art show begin!

I've never been a fan of art shows, and exhibits, more so of museums filled with a variety of artwork. But we're nearby and it won't hurt to just wander around a little bit.

I was a bit flustered when we walked into a well-lit and spacious room full of noisy and annoying teenagers. It would've been lovely to walk towards the Spolarium in total silence. But my eyes went past the kids, who I sensed, were as excited as I was.

Right there and then, I told myself that this museum was a trouvaille. Who would've thought we'd end up here?

It was difficult to get clear shots of the paintings without any photobomber. I had to come back when most of the people are gone just to take photos.

Closer look at the paintings:

This one is called The Battle of Mactan by Elmer Borlongan. It's one of the most recent paintings added in the museum's collection. It portrays how Lapu-lapu and the natives of Mactan fought Magellan and the Spaniards when they landed in Mactan Island.

The next artwork is entitled, The Assassination of Governor Bustamante by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo.

And of course, if I may, the highlight of this tour: Juan Luna's Spoliarium.

Aside from the massive floor-to-ceiling paintings, there are a few sculptures like this Diwata a piece by Guillermo Tolentino.

Before I went into the smaller galleries, I noticed this modern artwork entitle "Men at Work" at the back of Spoliarium.

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ARTWORK ON HALLWAYS

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My workmate and I roamed around separately. The museum is bigger than it looks so I had to organize the way I visit each gallery making sure I don't miss anything. I went to the left side first. This is when I was feeling happy because finally I was seeing and encountering lesser people gallery after gallery.

Most of the hallways are filled with statues from the smallest and simplest to the biggest and fanciest my little mind of ever thought of.

Below are some photos I took:

Aside from the hallways, there's another room dedicated to people who played part in Philippine history.

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PAINTING AFTER PAINTING

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If there's one hall I could stay forever in that is Gallery VIII [Silvina and Juan C. Laya Hall] and you are about to find out why.

Aside from there being barely anyone here, it was a room filled with grief, trauma, pain. How could I stay inside such a room forever?

The paintings here are extremely painful to look at. There's even a disclaimer/warning right before you enter the gallery saying "The gallery contains graphic images that may be disturbing to some viewers",

The very first paintings I saw didn't fall short of my expectation. It portrayed some of the things that I just read in books before about this era. The paintings looked so realistic that it felt like they can come out of the frames any minute.

Here's a close look:

Another painting that struck me the most. I lost track of time in this gallery, to be honest. I was just staring at the paintings and asking myself if it must've been hard to live in that era in our country.

Here are other paintings:

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THE END, FOR NOW!

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I'm skipping to the last gallery I visited but I'll definitely share more about the other galleries perhaps in another post.

I was almost done when I saw a glimpse of what appeared to be an altar and I'm right, it was indeed an altar. In Gallery I [ Luis Ablaza Hall], I found these wooden gems.

It is called Retablo (Side Altar) and was originally from San Nicolas de Tolentino Church in Dimiao, Bohol. The artist is unknown. There was a small label saying this is a National Cultural Treasure.

The Retablo is so huge they had to cut it into two and place each at the opposite ends of the gallery. I spent ten minutes here trying to figure out how on earth they were able to craft such a detailed wooden altar in the 18th century or am I just exaggerating? Nonetheless, I was fascinated by this piece. One of my favorites!

I'm afraid this is where our virtual tour of the National Museum of Fine Arts ends. If you ever pass by Manila, I certainly recommend you visit this. Aside from it being free, there are a bunch of things to discover here.

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