REPLICA OF JUAN LUNA PAINTING “SPOLIARIUM” UNVEILED AT PH CONSULATE’S SENTRO RIZAL MUSEUM
A faithful replica in canvas of the Juan Luna painting “Spoliarium” was unveiled at the Museo ng Lahing Pilipino, Sentro Rizal of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco on 16 June 2023. The painting was donated to the Philippine Folklife Museum Foundation by Margarita Baxter-Lazaro, daughter of the late Spanish artist Esperanza Baxter.
Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Neil Ferrer welcomed the “Spoliarium” art reproduction as a beautiful addition to the Museo ng Lahing Pilipino. The Museum also houses two original paintings of Fernando Amorsolo, the Philippines’ first National Artist, which are owned by the Consulate.
To position itself as the hub of Philippine culture and the arts in the Bay Area, Sentro Rizal San Francisco underwent redevelopment in 2022, through initiatives including, the reopening of the Sentro Rizal Library that now houses more than 1,500 books and the installation of the Virtual Sentro Rizal, a touchscreen kiosk that features multimedia resources on Philippine history, culture, and the arts.
The original “Spoliarium” painting, which won the gold medal at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1884 in Madrid, Spain, is currently on display at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Manila. (San Francisco PCG photos)