Built Heritage Tradition of the Minor Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel in Tayabas City, Quezon Province

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

Built Heritage Tradition of the Minor Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel in Tayabas City, Quezon Province

Showing ground floor plan, front façade, and location map (A. Arciaga III, 2022)

In this week’s #MuseumFromHome series this National Heritage Month, we feature the Minor Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel which is located in Tayabas City. The basilica remains the only one of its special designation in Quezon Province, is acclaimed as one of the most beautiful churches in the country, and is a declared National Cultural Treasure in 2001 by the National Museum of the Philippines.

The nave of the basilica, view from the altar to the main entrance (A. Arciaga III, 2022)

The basilica’s humble beginnings originate with a single-nave camarin-type (or shed-type) church building made of bamboo, anahaw, and nipa, built through the efforts of the Franciscans in 1585. By the year 1600, the church structure was transformed into a stone edifice. In 1743, the main church was damaged in an earthquake and was rebuilt by 1745, incorporating stone walls measuring 1 vara (roughly equivalent to 1 yard or 0.8359 meters) in thickness. By 1855, the basilica would be expanded with the modification of the triangular pediment of the facade into a curvilinear form and the addition of the crucero—also known as transepts—which completed the church’s cruciform plan and gave it the distinct key-shaped form for which it is now known for. 

The main altar and the transepts, showing the painted interior of the church (A. Arciaga III, 2022)

Unique in the built heritage treasure are the beautifully rendered trompe l’oeil paintings in its interior, covering the entirety of the ceilings of the church and the walls of the crucero, featuring religious imagery and ornamentation made to look as if they were intricately carved and three–dimensional instead of painted on plain surfaces. Another exceptional feature is the astronomical clock embedded and installed in the basilica’s adjoining bell tower, unequaled in the country and installed in 1818. 

The church is situated on a small hill, and covers a building footprint of around 2900 square meters, with dimensions of around 103 meters in length and 53 meters in width. Its plan is oriented on a northwest to a southeast axis, with the main entrance located in the southeast. The main church plan is rectangular, featuring a single grand nave—the longest church nave in the country. The altar features three (3) Rococo retablos located at each apse of the northwestern terminus. The convent and its open areas cover an area of around 1900 square meters, with dimensions of 65 meters in length and 30 meters in width.

Detail photo of trompe l’oiel paintings (A. Arciaga III, 2022)

The basilica presents a fair state of conservation, backed by the conscious and informed efforts of the local government of Tayabas and the diocesan parish to preserve their built heritage. The national cultural treasure has undergone restoration work and currently undergoes regular maintenance and upkeep. Initiatives are in place, partnering stakeholders and the national cultural agencies, to secure the basilica’s preservation for all future generations to appreciate its magnificence. 

Text and illustrations/photos by Ar. Armando Arciaga III, AABHD 

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

#NationalMuseumPH
#BuiltTraditionThursday

Continue reading

Quick Talk Challenge

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Heritage Month.

Quick Talk Challenge

  • 1 (2)

  • 2 (2)

  • 3 (2)

  • 4 (2)

Date: May 4-22, 2022

Do you know of any heritage structures in your community? Join our first ever Quick Talk Challenge! The #NationalMuseumPH launches its first online challenge to highlight the importance of local heritage in our communities and its impact in shaping our cultural identity.
Winning participants will be featured in all our social media accounts and will enjoy special access to one of our museums with family, friends, and loved ones.
Check out the photos for the mechanics of the challenge. Good luck!

Continue reading

Art Stroll Sunday Feature – “I Believe in God” (1948)

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

In celebration of National Heritage Month and for this week’s Art Stroll Sunday feature, we present National Artist Vicente Manansala’s 1948 oil painting, “I Believe in God”, from the National Fine Arts Collection (NFAC) on display at the GSIS Northwest Hall.

This oil on masonite was created in 1948 when Manansala was around 37 years old. This oil painting is a significant part of the national collection, being one of the artist’s early works in this style before he introduced transparent cubism, wherein geometric shapes and layers of colors were used in rendering figures and objects. This painting also shows Carlos “Botong” Francisco’s influence, being one of the painters that Manansala admires the most. “I Believe in God” depicts a family pausing from pounding rice grains to pray the Angelus. The Angelus is a prayer recited by Roman Catholics at noon or at 6 in the evening. It is also noteworthy that this was completed three years after the end of the Second World War, when Filipinos were still picking up and trying their best to rise from the horrors of the war, and the artist himself, was one of those who survived it. This oil painting is apt as we celebrate National Heritage Month with the theme “Pamanang Lokal: Binhi ng Kulturang Pilipino,” highlighting the importance of preserving and promoting local heritage within a community.

Manansala was born in Macabebe, Pampanga on January 22, 1910. He spent his childhood in Intramuros, Manila, and grew up with fellow artists Antonio Dumlao and Jose Alcantara. He worked as a newsboy, a distributor of programs in movie houses, and a billboard painter. He graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines in 1930. In 1949, he received a UNESCO scholarship grant to study at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Montreal, Canada for six months. In 1950, he went to France and studied at the University of Paris under a French government scholarship. His mentor, a French artist, and filmmaker Fernand Léger, taught him cubism. He was declared National Artist for Painting (1981). Manansala passed away on August 22, 1981, in Makati City.

You may view this painting inside the GSIS Northwest Hall, Gallery XXIII of the National Museum of Fine Arts. Other masterpieces of the National Artist are displayed in the other galleries on the Third Floor, namely: The International Rice Research Institute Hall (Gallery XXII) and the Philam Life Hall (Gallery XXIV).

We have numerous activities and programs this National Heritage Month! Click https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/national-heritage-month/ or https://ncca.gov.ph/nationalheritagemonth/ for more information

Text by NMP-FAD
Photo by Bengy Toda

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

𝐋𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐮𝐤𝐧𝐮𝐥 𝐲𝐚 𝐊𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐩: 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Heritage Month.

Date: May 6, 2022

In celebration of National Heritage Month (NHM), the #NationalMuseumPH Cordillera in Kiangan, Ifugao in collaboration with the National Museum Gender and Development Focal Point System (NM GAD-FPS), will be conducting a lecture and demonstration on Tuknul ya Kuttilap: Traditional Basketry and Embroidery on May 6, 2022 at the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office grounds in Poblacion, Kiangan, Ifugao.

Aligned with the theme, “Pamanang Lokal: Binhi ng Kultura”, this activity aims to awaken community appreciation of local heritage and ensure its transmission to the young through lecture and demonstration. It primarily aims to transmit indigenous knowledge and skills by training more students, teachers and women on traditional embroidery and basketry which are among the intangible cultural heritage that need to be sustained as alternative source of income even during community lockdowns.

Mrs. Maribelle B. Bongtiwon and Mr. Orlando Babbayung, culture bearers of tuknul and Mrs. Andifiore P. Torres and Mrs. Roseville Umli on kuttilap, will be the resource persons on the said crafts. They will show how the materials are prepared, what tools are needed and the basic steps in tuknul and kuttilap. Finished products will be exhibited during the activity as guide and inspiration for the participants. Selected students, teachers, and women community representatives will be the participants.

The activity will be conducted for free on site and video-documented. The documentary will be posted in the NM Cordillera Rice Terraces Site Museum Facebook page and will also be played in the activity area of the museum.

For further details, you may call Ms. Eulalie Dulnuan at mobile number 0935 498 0030 or you may e-mail us at nm_kianganbranch@yahoo.com.

MUCH EPISODES: Discovering the Past Through Underwater Archaeology

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Heritage Month.

Date: May 9, 16, 23 & 30, 2022

As we continue to celebrate the #NHM2022, the #NationalMuseumPH will feature four episodes about our Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage (MUCH), to be posted every Monday of this month.

Let us explore the world of MUCH as we talk about underwater archaeology, collections handling and management, exhibition, and other activities conducted by the #NationalMuseumPH towards the preservation and protection of our underwater cultural heritage.

This activity aims to raise awareness on the museum’s role in promoting cultural exchange and to create consciousness on the maritime culture of the Philippines for the appreciation of our heritage.

#MaritimeMonday #MUCHEpisodes #NHM2022 #PamanangLokal #MuseumFromHome #StaySafe

Lilies of the deep

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

The deep is truly a dark and scary place to live- but for other marine animals, it is their home. Welcome again to our #WildlifeWednesday featuring a deep-sea living fossil echinoderm known as the Sea Lily.

Sea lilies or stalked crinoids have stems emanating from underneath their crown with the bottom end attached to a hard substratum such as rocks. They are known as the ancestors of feather stars, which have no stems, can swim freely, and live on shallow warm waters.

Because sea lilies are attached firmly to a hard surface, scientists thought that they cannot move from one place to another. Interestingly, they found out that sea lilies could relocate themselves by detaching their segments anchored on the sea bed, then settle themselves in a new location. They regenerate their lost parts as they live in their new settlement. To prove that they can also move, scientists were able to capture a video of a sea lily “running” away from a predator. Sea lilies spread their arms to filter the seawater that passes through to capture and feed on plankton.

Fossil records of sea lilies indicate that they existed and became abundant in the shallow parts of the sea before the age of dinosaurs. But as time passed, they became less abundant, with only their unstalked offspring dominating the shallow tropical seas to this day. Now, most of the stalked crinoids reside in the deep parts of the ocean ranging from 1,000 to 9,000 meters.

You may visit Gallery 4 – Life Through Time exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History and see the actual specimen of the Sea Lily from the Philippines.

Text and photo by NMP Zoology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines