OUR forefathers fought and won the revolution against colonial rule not only with bolos and bullets. They also fought with pens and paintbrushes. Those who used the pen composed poems, songs (kundimans), and novels and boosted the morale of those in the battlefield. Juan Luna y Novicio used the paintbrush and the easel and was as successful as those who fought in the battlefield.
Juan Luna was born in Badoc, Ilocos Norte, on October 24, 1857. After finishing his studies in Manila he, like many other youthful Filipinos, pursued higher studies in Europe. It was in Europe where he beat the European academicians at their own game.
After winning second prize for his
Death of Cleopatra in the 1881 Madrid National Exposition of Fine Arts, he won first prize for his Spoliarium in the 1884 Madrid Exposition and again first prize for his El Pacto de Sangre in the 1855 Paris Exposition. Dr. Jose P. Rizal, in one of the celebrations the Filipino expatriates held in honor of Juan Luna, declared, "Genius has no country, genius bursts forth everywhere, genius is like light and air – the patrimony of all, it is as cosmopolitan as space, as life, and as God." A fervent patriot, Juan Luna made Europe see the Filipino people and the Philippines through his works. He projected his countrymen’s aspirations to be free.
When the Filipino-American War broke out on February 4, 1899, Juan Luna was one of the first to volunteer to serve the Filipino Republic but President Emilio F. Aguinaldo instructed him to remain in Paris and join the others to represent the country before the European nations and speak for the Filipino cause. Impatient with the slow diplomatic progress in Europe, he decided to return home to join the Filipino army. Death prevented him from doing so, however. He suffered a fatal heart attack while in Hong Kong and died on December 7, 1899.
May our many youths use their talents for the sake of their country and people as what Juan Luna y Novicio did.
