Author: National Museum of the Philippines

A Gunner’s Rule | San Diego

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A Gunner’s Rule | San Diego

  • © NMP-MUCHD 2021, Poster and background image source: Desroches et al. (1996).

  • Ancient compass and caliper used to measure the diameters of ammunitions and or cannon calibers. Image Source: https://bit.ly/3lGDtcq. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum.

  • Measurement of a cannon’s bore diameter using an 18th century CE gunner’s caliper. Source: https://bit.ly/3lGDtcq. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum.

This week’s #MaritimeMonday presents the Gunner’s Rule from the galleon San Diego, a Manila galleon that sank off Fortune Island in Batangas on December 14, 1600 after a naval engagement with the Dutch ship Mauritius. The shipwreck was excavated between 1992 and 1993 by Franck Goddio’s World Wide First Inc. (WWF) in collaboration with the underwater archaeologists of the #NationalMuseumPH. To learn more about the vessel’s story, please read here: https://tinyurl.com/SagaOfTheSanDiego.

Also known as a caliber compass or compas de medir balas, a gunner’s rule is a type of caliper engraved with precise information about each caliber, specifically designed for measuring cannonballs. The weight of the shot and charges, as well as other information including ranges, were also inscribed on the instrument. Calipers, also known as compass d’epaisseur or calibrador, are precision tools used to measure dimensions of materials such as time fuses, fuse plugs, diameter of shots, and calibers of cannons. Calipers are used to ensure precise measurements of moldings to avoid dimensional errors in the casting of artillery projectiles. During wars, artillery officers and or gunners were also equipped with compasses and calipers for effective artillery fire to maximize the chances of hitting their targets. 

The gunner’s rule or caliper recovered from the San Diego shipwreck measures about 22.6 cm in length. It has two straight legs or jaws pivoted to each other at the top. Towards the end of each leg are probable adjusting knobs used to attach two sharp points. Another apparent relevance of this instrument would be as a compass used to measure distances on a map. 

Your #NationalMuseumPH is now open to the public with minimum health protocols. Please visit our newly upgraded ‘300 Years of Maritime Trade in the Philippines’ exhibition on the second floor of the National Museum of Anthropology building. You may also opt to watch the virtual tour of the said gallery here: https://tinyurl.com/300YearsOfMaritimeTradePH. Please monitor this website and social media pages such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for further information and booking arrangements.

#GunnersRule 

#Compass

#SanDiegoShipwreck

#MuseumFromHome

#StaySafeStayHome

#BeatCOVID19

Poster and text by the Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Division

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)

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“Rural Scene (Pampanga)” by Cesar Buenaventura

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Uncategorized.

Are you missing the countryside this Holiday Season? 

As we geared towards celebrating the Holiday Season and some going home to their home provinces for vacation, today’s #ArtStrollSunday series features a 1949 oil painting, “Rural Scene (Pampanga)” by Cesar Buenaventura. 

“Rural Scene (Pampanga)” is an oil painting by Cesar Buenaventura (1922-1983) on display at the Second Floor Northwest Hallway Gallery of the National Museum of Fine Arts. This painting could be one of the artist’s early works known for his landscape and seascape paintings. This painting depicts Pampanga, a province in Central Luzon known as the culinary capital of the Philippines. Fishing and farming are its primary industries. Mount Arayat in Pampanga, as seen in this painting, is also frequently featured in the landscape paintings of Fernando Amorsolo, the artist’s mentor. 

Cesar, born in Tondo, Manila, was the youngest son of Teodoro Buenaventura (1863-1950), one of the founding teachers of the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts. Cesar studied art under eminent painters and art professors Fernando Amorsolo and Irineo Miranda. In 1949, he held his first solo exhibition at the Officer’s Club of the US Army’s South Pacific Headquarters in Diliman, in the same year this painting was completed. He was also considered as one of the leading artists of the Mabini Art Movement in Mabini Street in Ermita, Manila, where he owned a gallery from 1958-1995. He participated in many art exhibitions in the Philippines and the USA, Italy, and Zurich. 

The artist passed away in 1983.

You may view this painting at the Second Floor Northwest Hallway Gallery of the National Museum of Fine Arts, along with paintings of landscapes and seascapes from the National Fine Arts Collection. Visit your National Museum by reserving a slot through this website or view the 360 Virtual Tours of the select galleries at the National Museum of Fine Arts.

#MuseumFromHome

#ArtStrollSunday

#CesarBuenaventura

Text by NMP-FAD

Photo by Bengy Toda

©National Museum of the Philippines (2021)

140th Birth Anniversary of Filipino Sculptor Graciano Nepomuceno

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Uncategorized.

The #NationalMuseumPh features this wood relief from the National Fine Arts Collection (NFAC) in commemoration of the 140th birth anniversary of Filipino sculptor Graciano Nepomuceno who was born #OnThisDay in 1881. 

This circa 1930-1940 work, entitled “Spoliarium by Luna” is Nepomuceno’s rendition of an award-winning work by Filipino master artist, Juan Luna – the “Spoliarium” (1884). It portrays the bloody carnage at the basement of the Roman Colosseum where fallen gladiators are dumped and stripped of their worldly possessions. This historical work is Luna’s most famous, and his biggest painting in the Philippines which won the gold medal in the 1884 Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts.

Graciano Nepomuceno was born in Trozo area in Binondo, Manila – one of the more affluent areas in Manila at the time of his birth where residents have better formal education and are fluent in Castillan Spanish. He pursued a career in painting studying under Miguel Zaragoza (1842-1923) at the Liceo de Manila, and studied sculpture as an apprentice of prize-winning sculptor, Ciriaco Arevalo and well-known sculptor Eugenio Llerena (1860-1924). Among Nepomuceno’s famous works are the relief decorations for the ceiling of the Malacañang Palace, the façade of the Metropolitan Theater, and a bronze relief of Dr. Jose Rizal’s bust which is also part of the NFAC. He was also considered one of the leading sculptors and santeros (icon-maker) during the early 1900s and was the predecessor of National Artist Guillermo Tolentino (1890-1976) in the University of the Philippines. From 1914 to 1922, Nepomuceno and renowned sculptor Isabelo Tampinco (1850-1933) established a shop in Arlegui Street in Quiapo, Manila. He passed away in 1974.

Nepomuceno’s “Spoliarium by Luna” is currently displayed at the South Wing Hallway Gallery on the second floor of the National Museum of Fine Arts. It is featured along with classical sculptures of saints and religious images by Tampinco and his son, Vidal Tampinco (1893-1963) from the private collection of Ernesto and Araceli Salas.

#MuseumFromHome

#OnThisDay

#GracianoNepomuceno

Text by NMP FAD

Photo by Bengy Toda

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)

Power from Water

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Uncategorized.

For today’s #DignayanBiyernes, let us talk about the oldest and most commonly used renewable energy source on the planet – hydropower.

Hydropower, also known as hydroelectric power, is generated by harnessing the natural energy of flowing water and converting it into mechanical energy using hydraulic turbines.  In the Philippines, the most common hydropower system is set up in dams that store river water in reservoirs. These dams, often placed in remote locations, hold water to help control flooding as well as withstand periodic droughts.  When water is released, the turbines turn and spin, generating electricity that is distributed through transmission lines for domestic and industrial use. 

Although not free from sociocultural and environmental setbacks, such as obstruction of fish migration, change in water flow intensity, occupation of important sites and lands leading to the displacement of communities, etc., hydropower is reliable, renewable, and does not release pollutants into the environment.

If you want to know more about hydropower, visit us at the National Museum of Natural History by booking through this website.

#StaySafeStayHealthy

#GetVaccinated

#BeatCOVID19

Text and image by the NMP Geology and Paleontology Division

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)

Silang Church

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Uncategorized.

THE CHURCH OF NUESTRA SEÑORA DE CANDELARIA IN SILANG, CAVITE

Church Front Facade

In our #MuseumFromHome and #BuiltTraditionThursday series, we are featuring a colonial church architecture introduced by the Jesuits during the Spanish colonial period in Cavite. The Church of Nuestra Señora de Candelaria also known as Silang Church is considered an architectural built  heritage, in the province of Cavite.  

Silang was established as a parish by the Franciscans in 1595, and a church was built under the patronage of San Diego de Alcala (NHI, 2008). In 1611 the Franciscans ceded Silang to the Jesuits. A church of stone masonry was  built by Juan de Salazar, S.J., 1637-1639. The church of Silang was dedicated  to Nuestra Señora de Candelaria in 1640. Silang was under the spiritual  administrations of the Seculars in 1788, the Augustinian Recollects in 1849,  Seculars in 1868, the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1910, the Seculars in 1913, the Columbans in 1936, and the Seculars in 1978 until the  present (NHI, 2008). 

The Church of Nuestra Señora de Candelaria is a church-convent complex located in a parcel of land in the historic core of the Municipality of  Silang. The church complex is typical of Spanish colonial church architecture built mainly of stone masonry, cruciform in plan, with lateral walls supported by  buttresses. The church layout is oriented with its nave in north-south axis, its  altar on the north, and its main portal on the south. The bell tower is on the east  of the nave or the epistle side of the church. Northeast of the church is an  adjacent two-story convent. 

The architectural exterior of the church features a simple pedimented  south façade, divided horizontally by mouldings, and vertically by pilasters into  segments with a triangular pediment. The first level has a central bay with a  semicircular arched main portal. The second level features two windows and a  central arched niche that displays the statue of the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria. 

The architectural interior of the church features three altarpieces — a  retablo mayor and two retablos menores designed along Baroque (Rococo) lines.  According to Rene B. Javellana (1991), the altarpieces have catechetical intent. The main retablo (c.1663) as the centerpiece of the church interior is a visual  hagiography of Mary. The altar on the epistle side depicts Jesuit saints, while the altar on the gospel side are adorned with women saints. The altarpieces are built and assembled from wood components making use of traditional craftsmanship  and jointed connections to form architectural structures partly attached to the  church masonry walls. These altarpieces form part of the immovable features of  the architectural interior of the church. As a showcase of Filipino creativity in  architecture the church and its altarpieces possess “outstanding artistic and  cultural significance representative of a community’s identity, social cohesion, religious devotion, and creativity.” 

In 2016, Silang Church referred to as The Retablos Mayor y Menores of  the Church of Nuestra Señora de Candelaria and its Church Complex in Silang, Cavite was declared as a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of  the Philippines. This year the Church of Our Lady of Candelaria in Silang was  elevated as a Diocesan Shrine.  

Silang Church is in fair to good state of conservation and maintenance. While the church complex has undergone interventions, these are recognizable,  and reversible. Mindful that the preservation, conservation and/or maintenance  of the built heritage property can be best implemented with the inclusive  partnership of the church community and the local stakeholders, the Silang  Parish Council for Culture and Heritage (SPCCH) have initiated proposed  projects in coordination with the national government agencies such as the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) and National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). 

Silang Church, one of the few remaining church complex built during Spanish colonial period in Cavite exemplifies Philippine built traditions of our  National Cultural Treasures that is worthy of preservation and restoration. 

Text by Ar. Arnulfo F. Dado, Museum Curator II, NMP AABHD and photos by Erick E. Estonanto from the NMP – AABHD Photo Collection

  • Church Bell tower

  • Silang Main Retablo

  • Silang Retablo Epistle Side

  • Silang Retablo Gospel Side

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Underwater Stargazers

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Uncategorized.

For today’s #WildlifeWednesday, we bring you this comical-looking fish who looks like it is gazing woefully at the stars and the planet parade this December. But it is, in fact, waiting patiently to ambush its meal. 

Stargazer species (from Family Uranoscopidae) have adapted to spending most of their lives buried in the sand. They use their pectoral fins to dig sandy bottoms, with their upturned faces the only parts exposed. This made them look like they were gazing at the skies, but their eyes and mouths were strategically located at the top of their heads to easily cast their lures and capture prey. 

While stargazer fishes lack charm and glamor like others, they’ve invested more in becoming successful ambush predators. Many species have worm-shaped lures to attract a wide range of menu like squid, crabs, shrimps, worms, and fishes, which it gulps down whole! And a while later it just coughs out scales and other indigestible parts of its prey. Some stargazer species are even capable of delivering electric currents and deadly venom. Divers usually keep a safe distance when they get a rare encounter with members of this family.

It’s nearly Christmas. Let’s all look up and be thankful, and be still and calm until we can grab the blessings that we either worked hard for or arrive our way. 

#MuseumFromHome 

#StargazerFish

Text by NMP Zoology Division 

Photo by Darlene Aggabao Mcguire (Sogod Bay, Southern Leyte)

©National Museum of the Philippines (2021)