101-year-old painting on tin declared a national treasure
Juan Senson’s 1923 painting “Baptism of Christ” is the country’s newest National Cultural Treasure (NCT), following its recent declaration by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
Done on a tin sheet by Senson (1846-1947), the painting is part of the collection of the Angono Church or the Diocesan Shrine of San Clemente. The declaration ceremony was held on Dec. 14, just over a month after a petition was filed by the Angono church, led by its rector and parish priest Fr. Eymard Balatbat.
In the petition for declaration, the parish notes that the painting “exhibits exemplary domination of painting techniques as well as adaptation of European and Ibero-American artistic expressions using paint on galvanized tin sheet.”
The parish likewise notes that it “illustrates the creativity and mastery of [the] medium of 19th to early 20th century Filipino painters.”
Educator and author James Owen Saguinsin is the one who attested to the national significance of the painting for it to be declared as such, the first NCT in Angono. Saguinsin is the author of the “Nineteenth-Century Masters of Angono Art,” a finalist for Best Book on Art at the 42nd National Book Awards.
Seminal work
He said the painting is a seminal work by Senson who executed it with attention to detail in what is called in art as miniaturismo. It “constitutes a singular exemplar of Philippine religious iconography” and, in the local setting, “remains the sole extant painting of its kind to be actively utilized within ecclesiastical context,” although it is now displayed at the church’s recently opened museum called Museo Clementino.
Senson’s work, noted Saguinsin, is an indigenized version of the biblical scene of Christ’s baptism in the River Jordan, painting it with tipolo (Artocarpus blancoi) and coconut trees.
With an inscribed text on the painted biblical scene at the bottom, the painting is inside a wooden frame with its upper part decorated with gumamela reliefs.
Pending further study, the pigments used by Senson are reportedly natural, coming from gumamela and tempera.
In his speech during the event, NCCA chair Victorino Manalo highlighted Senson’s significance as the nuno or progenitor of art in Angono, which is why his agency strove to recognize him not only as a local artist but also as an important national figure in art.
Manalo said Senson’s “Baptism of Christ” is a good example of the adaptation by Filipino artists of Western art, but done in the local context and setting.
The artwork he said, represents the highest degree of art in the Philippines, plus it was done by someone outside Manila.
For her part, Angono Mayor Jeri Mae Calderon said the declaration solidifies Angono’s identity as the country’s art capital.
She said that this, together with other remaining heritages of the town, should be preserved, and she is in fact pushing for a local ordinance regarding this.
Tandang Juancho
Senson, later known in town as Tandang Juancho, influenced many Angono artists, including National Artist for Visual Arts Carlos “Botong” Francisco.
The baptism painting is one of two paintings of that topic he did during the 1920s, with the other one, “restored” in the 1980s, located at the church of Marikina.
Senson’s most known work is the “Vista Parcial del Pueblo de Angono y la Laguna de Bay,” now part of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas collection.
This work was exhibited at the Regional Exposicion de Filipinas held in Manila in 1895.
The declaration with the marker unveiling is a celebration of Angono’s artistic, religious, and musical heritage.
After the declaration and unveiling ceremonies, a misa cantada was held, which highlighted compositions by National Artist for Music Lucio San Pedro, also a native of Angono. It featured the local musical groups Angono Chorale Ensemble and Angono National Symphonic Band.
Sealing the event was a memorandum of agreement for the declaration of the artwork between the NCCA, the local government of Angono, the Diocese of Antipolo, and the San Clemente Parish.
