GOSPEL

GOLD
GLORY
SWORD

CROSS
1521

1564
Spanish Colonial
Period
(1521-1898)
The Birth of Catholicism
in the Philippines
 1564
REDUCCION
(RESETTLEMMENT
PLAN)

PLAZA COMPLEX
 During this time
period, cruciform
churches following the
shape of the Latin
Cross were built. In
keeping with the
prevailing design of the
Hispanic churches, the
Baroque style was
predominantly
employed.
Examples of Baroque churches that
have survived to this day are the
San Agustin Church in Manila
Morong Church in Rizal
Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte
Sto.Tomas de Villanueva Church in Miag-ao Ilo-ilo.
 Baroque Style
Some of the qualities most frequently
associated with the Baroque are grandeur,
sensuous richness, drama, dynamism,
movement, tension, emotional exuberance,
and a tendency to blur distinctions between
the various arts.
Baroque architecture
is a highly decorative and theatrical style
which appeared in Italy in the early 17th
century and gradually spread across Europe.
It was originally introduced by the Catholic
Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a
means to combat the Reformation and the
Protestant church with a new architecture
that inspired surprise and awe.
 Images of saints and interpretations of biblical
narratives were considered essential to
worship. Under strict watch and patronage of
the church, images were produced through
painting, sculpting, and engraving. The friars
bought with them Western models for local
artists to copy. Made of Ivory or wood, the
imagery of the Santo would be based on
Santo classical or baroque models. During the 17 th
century, Chinese artisans, under Spanish
A religious symbol, supervision were engaged in making icons or
especially a wooden saints or santos in wood and ivory; building
representation of a churches and houses; as well as making
saint. furniture. Their involvement resulted in works
that drew upon Chinese features and
techniques. An Example is a painting of
Nuestra Senora del Rosario in Bohol, the image
of which was said to be inspired from Kuayin,
The Deity of mercy in East Asian Buddhism.
 In colonial churches, santos are
displayed in a decorative altar niche
called the Retablo. Featuring the
town’s patron saint, the retablo
integrates architecture and
sculpture and is often gilded or
polychrome.
The Retablo
A frame or shelf enclosing decorated
panels or revered objects above and
behind an altar.
Retablo of Church of San Nicolas de Tolentino, Miag-ao
Bohol by an unknown artist (Wood)
Santos Agustinos Basilica Minore del Santo
Niño de Cebu, Juan Luna Cebu City
 Retablo Embellishments

The rosettes: The formalised flower motif

is often carved in stone or wood to create
decorative ornaments for architecture and
furniture, and in metalworking, jewelry
design and the applied arts to form a
decorative border or at the intersection of
two materials.
 Retablo Embellishments

The scrolls: a scroll pattern used in

architectural moldings and borders
in other media. It is also known as
the Vitruvian wave, wave scroll
 Retablo Embellishments

The Pediments: Pediment, in architecture,

triangular gable forming the end of the roof
slope over a portico (the area, with a roof
supported by columns, leading to the entrance
of a building); or a similar form used
decoratively over a doorway or window. The
pediment was the crowning feature of the
Greek temple front.
 Retablo Embellishments

The Solomonic Columns: also called Barley-

sugar column, is a helical column,
characterized by a spiraling twisting shaft like a
corkscrew
 Church altars are sometimes
decorated with carved figurative
protrusions on the surface called
the relieves; or with organic
designs of hammered silver or
Plateria. The Plateria technique is
also applied in Carozza,where the
santos are pared during the
processions.
Relleves, or carved images in relief
The Plateria technique
The Plateria technique
Images of the Holy Family, the Virgin
Mary, and the four evangelists
proliferate in the ceilings and walls
of the church, sometimes the ornate
manner of Trompe l’oeil as seen at
the taal Basilica in Batangcas or at
the St. James Apostle Parish in Betis,
Pampanga. Trompe l’oeil , is a
French term for” fooling the eye”. It
refers to paintings that give a
heightened illusion of three
dimensionality. is an art technique
that uses realistic imagery to create
the optical illusion that the depicted
objects exist in three dimensions.
Taal Basilica, Batangas and St. James the Apostle Parish , Betis, Pampanga
 With the coming of the Spaniards, who brought western musical instruments
like the pipe, organ, the violin, the guitar, and the piano, Philippine musical
forms also took on a very European Flavour—with new rhythms, melodies and
musical forms that Filipinos proceeded to adopt them and make their own.
Catholic liturgical music was introduced in 1742 when the then Archbishop of
Manila Juan Rodriguez Angel, established a singing school at the Manila
Cathedral that taught western church music. Its curriculum was patterned after
that of Madrid conservatory music. The Santo Domingo and San Agustin
convents would soon teach choral music to young boys and would soon create
Filipino composers like Marcelo Adonay (1848-1928). Outside of Manila, a
musical form based on the catholic faith emerge in the pasyon or pabasa as it is
sometimes called--- or the biblical narration of Christ’s passion chanted in an
improvised melody. It is a tradition that has survived to this day.
 Marcelo Adonay

- known as the “Prince of Philippine church music”

- He apprenticed as sacristan, he learned to play the organ by himself in the choir loft
during breaks.
- Moreover, he also learned and mastered the organ, the violin, the contrabass, and the
trumpet by himself. From his humble beginnings as a self-taught musician, he emerged as
a composer, conductor, official church organist, maestro di capella or choirmaster of San
Agustin Church, and orchestra director.
 Among the lowland Christian communities of Pampanga,
Ilocos, Bicol, and Iloilo, secular music such as the awit and the
corrido soon flourished. These were musical forms that were
chanted stories based on European literature and history and
were popular even among the peasantry who learned the
verses purely by rote. At this time, the Kundiman and the
Balitao, balitao-sentimental lovesongs and lullabies also
evolved.
 Kundiman

Kundiman came from the words “Kung hindi man “, is a genre of

traditional Filipino love songs. The lyrics of the kundiman are written
in Tagalog. The melody is characterized by a smooth, flowing and
gentle rhythm with dramatic intervals. Kundiman was the traditional
means of serenade in the Philippines.
Balitao
The Balitaw is an extemporaneous exchange of love verses between
a man and a woman. Danced and mimed, it is accompanied by a
song, or the dancers themselves sing, improvising the steps and
verses. It may last for hours, ending with the woman accepting or
rejecting the man's suit.
Local theatre forms would develop earlier
than literary fiction. The shamanistic
rituals, dances, and chants to pre-colonial
Philippines which were probably the
earliest form of theatre; were replaced by
the pomp and pageantry of religious
processions that were introduced by the
Spanish colonizers, complete with highly
embellished carrozas containing religious
tableaus of Catholic saints and scenes
from the bible.
During the 19th century, a popular form of
musical theatre was imported from Spain.
The Zarsuela or sarsuwela was an
operetta which features singing and
dancing interspersed with prose dialogue
which allowed the story to be carried out
in song. The first zarzuelas that were
staged in the Philippines were entirely in
Spanish and featured a European cast.
Local playwrights later wrote librettos in
the local language, hence the term
sarsuela
Walang Sugat is an 1898
Tagalog-language zarzuela
written by Filipino
playwright Severino Reyes.
"Walang Sugat" tells the
love story of Julia and
Tenyong whose forbidden
relationship had been
further hampered by their
social status, political, and
religious beliefs during the
height of the Philippine
revolutionary movement
against the Spanish
colonizers in 1896-1898.
The first Senakulo or passion plays was written in 1704
by Gaspar Aquino de Belen. Its narrative was culled
entirely from the biblical account of Christ’s passion
and death on the cross, adapted into verse form and
translated into the local language. It is performed
during lent and in some cases, may last for three days.
In some areas, the senakulo was tweaked to convey
Christ’s suffering as a metaphor for the suffering of
Filipinos under Spanish colonial rule.
The first Senakulo or passion plays was written in 1704
by Gaspar Aquino de Belen. Its narrative was culled
entirely from the biblical account of Christ’s passion
and death on the cross, adapted into verse form and
translated into the local language. It is performed
during lent and in some cases, may last for three days.
In some areas, the senakulo was tweaked to convey
Christ’s suffering as a metaphor for the suffering of
Filipinos under Spanish colonial rule.
 Komedya The Komedya is another local theatre form that
emerged during this period. The Komedya depicts the
Komedya is a common
conflict between the Muslims and Chrsitians. There
genre played in most were two main types of the Komedya. One type was
the Komedya de Santo or Religious Komedya. it
traditional theaters or
centers on the life of Christ or of any saint. It is usually
any live gatherings seen during church celebrations. Another type is the
secular komedya. The moro-moro is a type of secular
including special
komedya.. The word ‘moro’ is derived from the
festivities to celebrate Spanish word for moor or the north American Arabs
who rules parts of Spain from the eigth to the 15th
one thing that most of
century. A typical moro-moro story would usualy
us Filipinos are believing involve a love story between a Christian hero and an
Islamic heroine or vice versa. Dialog would be done in
into, our very own
verse, in the vernacular language, and clashes
religion and also shows between Christians and Muslims were done in dance,
ultimately resulting in the conversion and baptism of
the conflict from
the leading Muslim character, and ending with a
another religion which is Christian wedding and the protagonists living happily
ever after
the Muslims.
Centuries of the galleon trade
between Mexico and the
Philippines also served not
only as a means of
governance for Spain. The
trade and viceroyalty
arrangement also brought
Mexican influences in the
Philippine folk music and
dance. Folk dances such as
the carinosa, pandanggo, or
fandango, and the rigodon
carries traces of the habanera,
jota and tango from Spain and
its colonies.
 In the visual arts,
paintings served an
instructive function
through visual
interpretation of biblican
texts central to the
catholic devotion. An
example is Heaven, Earth,
and Hell (1850), a mural
by Jose Dans in Paete
Church, Laguna.
Heaven, Earth, and
Hell (1850), a mural
by Jose Dans in Paete
Church, Laguna.
Image making during the period generally conformed to the references
of the patrons and not just solely the interest and preference of the
artist’s. Such Relations are at work is the Basi Revolt, a series of 14
painting by Esteban Villanueva. It chronicles the defeat of Ilocanos who
rebelled against the Spanish government’s monopoly of Basi or Rice
wine in 1821. Commissioned by the Spanish government, the paintings
illustrate the bloody consequences of insurgent actions, an overt
reminder of the might of Spain over its colony. Nonetheless, although
patronage strongly influences art production, we will see in the course
of this lesson how artists exercised their subjectivity to initiate change
in various ways in order to transcend the limitations posed by the
patronage system
The Strangulation of the Four
Insurgent Soldiers

(Estrangulacion de los Cuatro

Caudillos Insurgentes) is one of
the fourteen works of art by
Esteban Villanueva. This series
of works represents the conflict
between the Spanish
government in Vigan and the
Ilocano basi farmers during the
Basi Revolt, which transpired on
September 16-28, 1807. The
farmers and basi producers
took great offense against the
Spanish authorities’ decision to
forbid the production and sale
of basi. In essence, the Basi
Revolt was a result of the pent-
up frustration and anger of the
Ilocanos over the Spanish abuse
During the Spanish Period, they brought
with them printing technology. Printed
literature came in form of catechism and
prayer books in Spanish that were used
not only to teach the local inhabitants to
read and write, but more so to evangel.
The Reprographic art of printmaking was
introduced in the Philippines as early as
the 16th century. Applying of Xylography
or woodcut printing, Doctrina Christiana
(the teachings of Christianity) was
printed in 1593 in Spanish and in Tagalog
by Dominican Priests. Doctrina
Christiana is the first printed book in the
Philippines compiling song lyrics,
commandments, sacraments, and other
catechetical material. Aside from prayer
booklets called estampas and its smaller
counterpart estampitas printmaking,
particularly engraving, was developed to
produce secular or non-religious works.
 During the period, the Spanish crown commissioned
scientists and artists to produce maps and other sources of
classification. Surely, it was a means of gaining more
information about the colony and engaging in the
production of knowledge in the age of expedition. Although
religious art predominated during the Spanish colonial
period, some of the other best forms of art flourished were
non-religious or secular. In 1734, the Jesuit priest Fr. Pedro
Murillo Velarde collaborated with homegrown talents, the
artist Francisco Suarez and the engraver Nicolas de la Cruz
Bagay to produce Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de
las Yslas Filipinas, the first scientific map of the Philippines.
religious images.
Carta Hydrographica y
Chorographica de las
Islas Filipinas
It is more commonly
known as the Murillo
Velarde map, is a map of
the Philippines made and
first published in Manila.
It is frequently referred
to as the "Mother of all
Philippine Maps"
 Surrounding the map
are vignettes
(Thumbnails) of
everyday life that focus
on the different types
of people and their
surrounding called
Tipos del Pais.
Tipos del País is a style of watercolour painting
that shows the different types of inhabitants in
the Philippines in their different native
costumes that show their social status and
occupation during colonial times.
 On the other hand, the
development of lithography
facilitated the reproduction
of color of plates as well as
mass printing of
newspapers and periodicals.
The Augustianian botanist
Fr.Manuel Blanco produced
an extensive compilation of
the Philippine plants in
Flora de Filipinas in 1878.
Covered with exquisite
leather, the content consists
of lithographic
reproductions of
remarkable watercolour
illustrations by Filipino
artists.
The opening of Manila to international trade in 1834 and of the Suez Canal in 1869
gained economic benefits for the native elites. The Suez Canal, one of the most
important waterways in the world, was opened on Nov. 17, 1869. This shortened the ship
travel time between the Philippines and Spain to 30 days, allowing many Filipinos to go
to Europe to further their studies.The enlivened trade and commercial ventures also
presented to them the opportunity to study in Europe
 From this class rose the “ilustrado” or the
“enlightened one”. With the emergence of the native
elites as new art patrons, secular themes in art were
explored and developed. The Ilustrados constituted
the Filipino educated class during the Spanish colonial
period in the late 19th century. Elsewhere in New
Spain (of which the Philippines were part), the term
gente de razón carried a similar meaning. They were
the middle class who were educated in Spain and
exposed to Spanish liberal and European nationalist
ideals. The Ilustrado class was composed of native-
born intellectuals and cut across ethnolinguistic and
racial lines and sought reform through "a more
equitable arrangement of both political and economic
power" under Spanish tutelage.
In the domestic realm, families tended to their altars comprised
of delicate santos placed in virina, a bell-shaped glass case or
urna, a humbler, domestic version of a retablo, often attributed
to the craftsmanship of artists from the Visayas region.
 The rise of these new elites would also manifest in town organization. Among those
that occupied the plaza complex were the bahay na bato which housed the rich and
prominent families

Bahay na Bato
The Filipino term bahay na bato means "house
of stone", these houses are not fully made up
of stone; some are even dominated more by
wooden materials, and some more modern
ones use concrete materials. The name got
applied to the architecture as generations pass
by, because contrary to its predecessor bahay
kubo, which are fully made of organic
materials, it uses stone materials.
Its design has evolved throughout the ages,
but still maintains the bahay kubo's
architectural basis which corresponds to the
tropical climate, stormy season, and
earthquake-prone environment of the whole
archipelago of the Philippines and fuses it with
the influence of Spanish colonizers and
Chinese traders
Filling up the spacious interiors of the Bahay the Bato were commissioned portrait
paintings in the miniaturist style or Miniaturismo that allowed the artist to reveal
meticulous details that signify the wealth and refinement of the sitter, or the one who is
posing for the portrait. Simon Flores’ painting Portrait of the Quiazon Family ,1800
documents the family’s affluence: the magnificent interior of the family’s home, the
mothers jewelry, the delicate fabric and embroidery of their clothing , and their dignified
poses.
Miniaturismo is an art showing a person in a serious motive and outlook. while
holding an object that tells about his or her power and status of living. And as. a
student, preferably an Accountancy student, I have used the objects Accounting.
books, pen, calculator and my swatch to portray a miniaturismo art.
Aside from miniaturist painters, academic painter
gained ground as they received their art studies in local
schools, or abroad as in the case of Juan Luna and Felix
Hidalgo. In 1821, Damian Domingo, the painter known
for his watercolour albums of tipos del pais established
the art first art school in the country right at his studio
in Binondo, Manila. The Academia de Dibujo y Pintura
was eventually absorbed by the school put up by the
real Sociedad Economica Filipina de Amigos de Pais
where Domingo served as a director. Closing down in
1834 after Domingo’s death, the school was reopened
in the 1850’s. The professors were predominantly
Spanish peninsulares, a term that is used particularly
during the colonial period to refer to Spanish-born
residents in the Philippines.

Damian Domingo
Felix Hidalgo
 In 1884, the expatriates Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion
Hidalgo won medals in the Madrid Exposition. Luna won gold
for Spoliarium; while Hidalgo garnered a silver medal for
Virgenes Christianas Expuestas Al Populacho. Both works
testify to Filipino artistic excellence which proved to be at par
with the standards set by the European academy. We recall Jose
Rizal’s brindis or toast before a group of Ilustrados lauding the
efforts of the two artists, articulating one of his famous sayings,
“Genius knows no country”. It was during this occasion that Rizal
spoke of the importance of the paintings as the propagandists
campaigned for reforms in the Philippines. Large in scale and
grandiose in effect, the significance of both paintings lies not
only in the prestige these gained but also in the relay of
meanings these continue to generate.
 Luna’s depiction of a lifeless body of a gladiator being pulled
across the coliseum and Hidalgo’s emphasis on a woman held
captive have been interpreted as searing reminders of the
Philippines’ oppression under Spanish rule.
Virgenes Christianas Expuestas Al Populacho
 Luna’s Alignment with the ilustrado’s propaganda movement
is evident in the painting Espana y Filipinas, 1886 featuring
two women ascending a flight of stairs. Personified by a
woman in a flowing red gown, Mother Spain patronizingly
leads her charge, a petite brown-skinned woman representing
Filipinas, the duo presumably making their way toward the
path of enlightenment. These important works have been
repatriated to the Philippine museums. The Spoliarium may
be viewed at the National Art Gallery of the Philippines and
Espana y Filipinas at the Lopez Museum. Virgenes , currently
on long term loan to the National Art Gallery in Singapore, is a
part of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila or MET
Collection.
Espana y Filipinas
 The art form that period are referred to stylistically and
culturally as religious art, lowland Christian art, or folk art.

Religious Art
Religious art or sacred art is artistic imagery using
religious inspiration and motifs and is often intended
to uplift the mind to the spiritual. Sacred art involves
the ritual and cultic practices and practical and
operative aspects of the path of the spiritual
realization within the artist's religious tradition.
Folk Art
Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the
context of folk culture.
It is made by individuals whose creative skills convey
their community's authentic cultural identity, rather
than an individual or idiosyncratic artistic identity.