Happy Friday! In today’s #DignayanBiyernes, let us talk about the third most consumed industrial metal in the world– copper. 

Copper is the 29^th element in the periodic table with a chemical symbol of Cu (from Latin “cuprum”). It is an important industrial metal because of its wide range of applications. It is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, has high ductility, malleability, and corrosion resistance.  Large amounts are also used to make alloys such as brass (copper and zinc), bronze (copper, tin and zinc), and with other precious metals such as silver and gold. 

Do you know that the oldest and the very first metal discovered by man is copper? Its discovery dates back to prehistoric times. With the absence of modern knowledge on metallurgy, early societies valued it mostly for its aesthetic qualities using it like gold and silver for ornaments.  

The Philippines is one of the countries blessed with large amounts of metallic and non-metallic mineral resources. Among these, copper has the largest reserve estimated at 4 billion metric tons. This makes us the fourth largest country in the world in terms of copper reserves. 

It is found in ore deposits around the world and must be extracted or smelted first before it can be used. In our country, its occurrence is widely distributed and can be found in Benguet, Kalinga, Nueva Vizcaya, Marinduque, Cebu, Compostela Valley and Rapu-Rapu among others. 

If you want to know more about copper and the rest of our mineral collections, visit us at the National Museum of Natural History by booking through this website.

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Text and image by the NMP Geology and Paleontology Division

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)

Concluding the series on concepts on death and mortuary practices, today’s #TrowelTuesday features memorials and other ways of remembering the departed as well as events, through an archaeological perspective.

Fateful events in history such as wars, heroic deaths, and major catastrophes often inspire or serve as an important lesson to the community or generation that remembers them. Such events are often memorialized through transforming spaces and landscapes by erecting structures like shrines and monuments. The creation of memorials is a common practice across different cultures, serving as their way of coping with grief associated to tragedy.

In the Philippines, major events that caused the lives of many are honored with memorial shrines, like the Pinaglabanan Shrine in San Juan City, Dambana ng Kagitingan in Bataan, Martial Law Memorial Wall in Manila, and Yolanda Memorial Monument in Tacloban City.

In the context of Philippine prehistory, memorializing the dead is not materialized in monumental structures, unlike in other cultures of the wider Austronesian region who practiced building megalithic structures for the same spiritual and cosmological purpose. Archaeologists argue that the lack of prehistoric megalithic structures in the country may be attributed to its landscape, constant extreme weather disturbances, and being a hotspot of volcanic and seismic activities. Instead, our ancestors honored the dead through peculiar grave markers and burial vessels.

For instance, in prehistoric burial sites of Batanes and Catanauan in Quezon, boat-shaped burial markers made of stones and coral slabs arranged low on the ground were observed. For the prehistoric maritime communities of Southeast Asia, the boat symbolizes the spiritual journey of the soul into the afterlife. In other burial sites such as Calatagan in Batangas and Bolinao in Pangasinan, giant clam shells and brain corals were utilized as grave markers. Motifs and depictions on burial vessels can also be viewed as our ancestors’ way of remembering the dead, like the Maitum anthropomorphic burial jars and Kulaman Plateau limestone urns which depict images of the departed.

Your #NationalMuseumPH is now open to visitors of all ages. Book a slot for your visit or explore our collections and exhibitions through this website.

#MemorializingTheDead

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Text by Ivan Cultura and poster by Timothy James Vitales | NMP Archaeology Division

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)

The #NationalMuseumPh commemorates the 158^th birth anniversary of Filipino hero Andres Bonifacio who was born #OnThisDay in 1863, with this oil on canvas portrait by Zosimo Dimaano. 

Andres Bonifacio y de Castro is known as the Father of the Philippine Revolution for leading the revolt against Spanish rule. He founded the Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, commonly called the Katipunan, a secret revolutionary society which aimed to liberate Philippines from the Spaniards. By 1894, the society and its operations spread throughout Manila, giving women the chance to join the organization as keepers of important documents. 

On August 23, 1896, Bonifacio and his troops launched a revolution historically known as the Cry of Pugadlawin. They tore their cedulas (resident certificates) to signify their revolt against the Spanish colonial government. To commemorate his bravery and pivotal role in the Philippine Revolution, the Philippine Legislature passed in 1921 Act No. 2946, declaring November 30 as a national holiday, referred to as Bonifacio Day.

This featured portrait of Gat Andres was painted in 1935 by Zosimo Dimaano (1895-1942). Dimaano took lessons in art under Ramon Rivera and graduated from the University of the Philippine School of Fine Arts. He worked with National Artist Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) as a designer at Pacific Commercial and in the Bureau of Printing’s photo-engraving section. He worked in several photo studios in Santa Cruz, Manila.

This portrait is currently on display in the Early 20^th Century Philippine Portrait Hall (Gallery IX) of the National Museum of Fine Arts along with works of portraiture by artists of the classical realist school. 

Reserve your slot and visit the other galleries at the National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA) or view the 360 Virtual Tour of the select nine galleries at the NMFA through this website.

#OnThisDay

#BonifacioDay

#AndresBonifacio

#GatAndres

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Text by NMP FAD

Photo by Bengy Toda

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)

#OnThisDay Feature

The Stone Thrower Pedrero | San Diego

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

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  Casting process and different mould forms used in casting markings and decorations on artillery pieces . Image Source: ML Peterson (2014).

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  In situ image of bronze cannons from the San Diego shipwreck site in Fortune Island, Batangas. Image Source: https://www.gilbert-fournier.com/ancres, © G. Fournier, 1992

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  4 of the 14 cannons, recovered from San Diego. Image Source: https://www.gilbert-fournier.com/sandiego, © G. Fournier, 1992

This week’s #ArtStrollSunday series focusing on the 17th to early 20th century art from the National Fine Arts Collection features Francesco Ricardo Monti’s “Madonna with Angels” (ca. 1946).

“Madonna with Angels” by Francesco Ricardo Monti is a plaster relief created circa 1946. In this relief, Monti depicts the Madonna without the infant Jesus. There are angels and cherubs all around her in glory. Her long robe flows down past her feet, and a big halo surrounds her head. Her face is calm, her eyes are closed, her body is straight, and her arms are wide open as if suspended in the air. Above her is a large scroll with the written words “As Angels In Some Brighter Dreams Call To The Soul When Man Doth Sleep.” Monti was commissioned to create this work for a private mortuary chapel in Manila after World War II. The relief was donated to the National Museum of the Philippines in 2013 as a Gift of the Heirs of Petronilo L. del Rosario, Sr. It is displayed at the National Museum of Fine Arts in the President Sergio Osmeña Function Hall.

Francesco Ricardo Monti (1888-1958) was an Italian sculptor from Cremona who lived and worked in the Philippines from 1930 until his death in 1958. He studied at the Institute of Ponzone for Decorative Arts and Technology and the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1928, he left Cremona, seeking greener pastures for his art. This happened a month after joining a design competition for the Caduti Austrio-Ungheresi Monument. The organizers denied him the recognition of first place award and the art commission even though a local newspaper had reported that his design won. He went to different parts of Europe and reached New York, where he met Architect Juan M. Arellano (1888-1960), who invited him to the Philippines. Monti worked with Arellano during the design of the Metropolitan Theater in Manila in 1930 by creating sculptures that adorn the theater’s main lobby and façade. He also assisted National Artist for Sculpture Guillermo E. Tolentino (1890-1976) in his masterpiece The Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan, inaugurated in 1933. Monti started teaching at the University of Santo Tomas in 1948 alongside National Artists for Visual Arts, namely Victorio Edades (1895-1985), Carlos Francisco (1912-1969), Vicente Manansala (1910-1981) as well as notable painter Galo Ocampo (1913-1985). Later he was commissioned to adorn the façade of the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City, inaugurated in 1954 and designed by National Artist for Architecture Jose Maria Zaragoza (1912-1994). Monti met a car accident resulting in internal injuries that took his life on August 11, 1958. While he was alive, he never forgot to show his appreciation for the country that opened its doors for him during the lowest point of his career and became his home for the last 25 years. 

We are now open! To visit the National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA), you may book a tour through this website. Please note the guidelines for visiting. You may also view the 360 degrees virtual tour of select NMFA galleries on the link https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nmfa360/HTML5/NMFA360.html. See you at the National Museum!

#ArtStrollSunday

#FrancescoMonti

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Text and photo by NMP-FAD

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)