Manila, Philippines—The Judge Guillermo B. Guevara Foundation has donated four paintings by the first National Artist of the Philippines, Fernando Cueto Amorsolo, to the Philippine National Museum.
Philippine National Museum Director-General Jeremy Barns formally received the paintings from Victor Guevara and Judge Guillermo B. Guevara Foundation officials.
These paintings titled “Ang Wakas ni Magallanes” (1963, oil on canvas), “The Assassination of Governor Bustamante” (1965, oil on canvas), and “Bataan” (1942, oil on canvas), along with a portrait of Judge Guevara (1950, oil on canvas), were previously on display at the Judge Guillermo B. Guevara Room at the University of the Philippines-Diliman main library, along with the judge’s memorabilia, books, and other documents on law, history, and philosophy.
In “Ang Wakas ni Magallanes,” Mr. Amorsolo depicts the death of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan on the island of Mactan in the Philippines. Magellan was defeated in battle against the Chief of Mactan, Lapu-Lapu, and his warriors.
Magellan spearheaded the first expedition to circumnavigate the world.
“The Assassination of Governor Bustamante,” on the other hand, depicts Governor-General Fernando Bustamante’s death in 1917. Governor-General Bustamante fell in the hands of the supporters of Archbishop of Manila Francisco dela Cuesta, whom the governor had imprisoned because the former took several people with pending charges into custody.
Lastly, the painting “Bataan” resembles Michelangelo Buonarroti’s “Pieta,” but the piece shows a dead Filipino soldier and his mother—recalling the horrific Bataan Death March instead.
Judge Guevara, known as the founder of criminology in the Philippines, fought against graft and corruption, especially during the presidency of Ramon Magsaysay from 1953 to 1957. He was also a professorial lecturer at the UP-Diliman from 1921 to 1942.
Photo: “Ang Wakas ni Magallanes” (1963) by Fernando Amorsolo