Juan Luna de San Pedro y

Novicio

Born in the town of Badoc, Ilocos Norte in the northern Philippines, Juan Luna was the third among the seven children of Don Joaquin Luna de San Pedro y Posadas and Doña Laureana Novicio y Ancheta.

In 1861, the Luna family moved to Manila and he went to Ateneo Municipal de Manila where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree.

Luna enrolled at Escuela Nautica de Manila (now Philippine Merchant Marine Academy). He took drawing lessons under the illustrious painting teacher Lorenzo Guerrero of Ermita, Manila.

He also enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts (Academia de Dibujo y Pintura) in Manila where he was influenced and taught how to draw by the Spanish artist Agustin Saez. Unfortunately, Luna's vigorous brush strokes displeased his teacher and Luna was discharged from the Academy. studies.

Juan entered the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Fernandouela, where he befriended the painter Don Alejo Vera. Luna was discontented with the style of teaching in school and decided that it would be much better to work with Vera.

OIt was in 1878 when his artistic talents was established with the opening of the first art exposition in Madrid which was called the Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Demonstration of Beautiful Arts). From then on, Luna became engrossed in painting and produced a collection of paintings that he exhibited in the 1881 Exposition.

His La Muerte de Cleopatra (The Death of Cleopatra) won him a silver medal and came in second place. Luna's growing reputation as an artist led to apensionado (pension) scholarship at 600 pesos annually through the Ayuntamiento of Manila.

The condition was that he was obliged to develop a painting which captured the essence of Philippine history which would then become the Ayuntamiento's property.

In 1883 Luna started the painting demanded of him by the Ayuntamiento. In May 1884, he shipped the large canvas of the Spoliarium to Madrid for the year's Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes. He was the first recipient of the three gold medals awarded in the exhibition and Luna gained recognition among the connoisseurs and art critics present.

OOn June 25, 1884, Filipino and Spanish nobles organized an event celebrating Luna's win in the exhibition. That evening, Rizal prepared a speech for his friend, addressing the two significant things of his art work, which included the glorification of genius and the grandeur of his artistic skills.

Luna developed a friendly relationship with the King of Spain and was later commissioned by the Spanish Senate to paint a large canvas which was called the La Batalla de Lepanto (The Battle of Lepanto). He moved to Paris in 1885 where he opened his own studio and befriended Hidalgo.

OA year after, he finished the piece El Pacto de Sangre (The Blood Compact) in accordance with the agreement he had with the Ayuntamiento of Manila. Depicted in this piece was the blood compact ceremony between the Datu Sikatuna , one of the lords in Bohol island, and the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi.

It is now displayed in the Malacañan Palace. He also sent two other paintings in addition to the one required; the second canvas sent to Manila was a portrait of López de Legazpi reconstructed by Luna from his recollection of a similar portrait he saw in the hall of the Cabildo, and the third was of Governor-general Ramón Blanco y Erenas.

In 1887, Luna once again traveled back to Spain to enter in that year's Exposition two of his pieces, the La Batalla de Lepanto and Rendición de Granada (Surrender of Granada),

OHe celebrated his triumph with his friends in Madrid with Graciano López-Jaena delivered Luna a congratulatory speech. Luna's

paintings are generally described as being vigorous and dramatic.

With its elements of Romanticism, his style shows the influence

of Delacroix, Rembrandt, and Daumier.

On December 8, 1886, Luna married Maria de la Paz Pardo de Tavera, a sister of his friend Felix and Trinidad Pardo de Tavera. The couple traveled to Venice and Rome and settled in Paris. They had one son, whom they named Andrés, and a daughter nicknamed Bibi who died in infancy. Luna was fond of painting his wife.

OHowever, the jealous Luna frequently accused Paz of having an affair with a certain Monsieur Dussaq. Finally in a fit of jealousy, he killed his wife and mother-in-law and wounded his brother-in-law, Felix, on September 23, 1892. He was arrested and murder charges were filed against him.

Luna was acquitted of charges on February 8, 1893, on grounds of temporary insanity; the "unwritten law" at the time forgave men for killing unfaithful wives.

OHe was ordered to pay the Pardo de Taveras a sum of one thousand six hundred fifty one francs and eighty three cents, and an additional twenty five francs for postage, in addition to the interest of damages. Five days later, Luna went to Madrid with his brother, Antonio Luna, and his son, Andrés

In 1891 Luna moved back to the Philippines and traveled to Japan in 1896, returning during the Philippine Revolution of the Cry of Balintawak. Unfortunately, on September 16, 1896, he and his brother Antonio Luna were arrested by Spanish authorities for being involved with the Katipunan rebel army.

Despite his imprisonment, Luna was still able to produce a work of art which he gave to a visiting priest. He was pardoned by the Spanish courts on May 27, 1897 and was released from prison and he traveled back to Spain.

In 1898, he was appointed by the executive board of the Philippine revolutionary government as a member of the Paris delegation which was working for the diplomatic recognition of the República Filipina (Philippine Republic). In 1899, upon the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1898), Luna was named a member of the delegation to Washington, D.C. to press for the recognition of the Philippine government.

He traveled back to the Philippines in December 1899 upon hearing of the murder of his brother Antonio by the Kawit Battalion in Cabanatuan. On December 7, 1899, Luna suffered a heart attack and died there. His remains were buried in Hong Kong and in 1920 were exhumed and kept in Andrés Luna's house, to be later transferred to a niche at the Crypt of the San Agustin Church in the Philippines.

OFive years later, Juan would be reinstated as a world renowned artist and Peuple et Rois, his last major work, was acclaimed the best entry to the Saint Louis World's Fair in the United States. Unfortunately some of his paintings were destroyed by fire in World War II.

Paintings and

Drawings By

Juan Luna

SPOLIARIUM

,1884, 

NATIONALMUSEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES

 La Muerte de Cleopatra (The Death of Cleopatra)

Despues Del Baile

Violinista

En el Balcon

España y Filipinas

Ramon Blanco

y Erenas

Indio Bravo

Jose Rizal

La Bulaq

La Marquesa de Monte Olivar

Manuel

Luna

Mi Hijo Andres

Nina Y Tinita

Odalisque painting

Picnic in Normandy

Puesta del Sol

Street Flower Vendor

Tampuhan

The Parisian Life

THANK YOU FOR

LISTENIN

G

THE END