by: Joel Villaraza

Juan Luna was a Filipino hero, painter, sculptor and a political reformer in the late 19th century during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines.  He was well known for his great artwork called Spoliarium which won a gold medal in Madrid, Spain in the 1884 Exposicion National de Bellas Artes (National Exposition of Fine Arts). Luna spent 8 months painting the impressive life-size masterpiece on a huge canvass that measures 4.22 x 7.68 meters.  The name was taken from Latin words spolia opima which means rich spoils. The painting depicts the horrific fate of dead gladiators as they are being dragged like carcasses inside the chamber. Onlookers stand by eagerly as they wait to get their hands on the spoils while others look in horror as they gaze on the lifeless and disfigured bodies of the vanquished.  

Spoliarium displayed the artistic genius of Juan Luna which refuted racial prejudice against Filipinos who colonist assumed to be inferior and could not excel at any endeavors. His fine work brought fame, fortune, and more commissions for the painter while living in Europe. The painting is currently housed in the main gallery of the National Museum of the Philippines.

One of Juan Luna's earliest works, Las Damas Romanas is a painting in oil on canvas.  It portrays the casual domestic life of Roman women in ancient Rome.  The work was thought to have been lost but reappeared in Paris, France a few years ago.

Juan Luna was gifted and yet for all his great artistic talent, unknown to many, the artist was also a man of uncontrollable temper.  Luna, while staying in Paris, France was charged of murdering his wife, Maria de la Paz Pardo de Tavera and mother-in-law, Dona Juliana, and wounding his brother-in-law Felix in a heated argument about his wife’s unproven acts of infidelity.  Strangely, his murderous outburst has not been a subject of discussion in schools since there are no textbooks that were written about the painter‘s violent temper. Nevertheless, the story is beginning to come out which can be credited to documents and research written by some writers and online sources.

Marital relationship between the two began to wobble when the couple’s baby died during infancy.  Luna, who was fond of the baby girl, blamed the death on his wife Maria which Luna believed was due to her neglect. It was said that instead of Maria going into mourning for at least a year, Luna noticed that she began wearing fancy clothes and putting on make-ups when she strolled the city. Her behavior aroused his suspicion that something was not right about his wife's routine. He suspected that his wife while going out was having an affair with a man named Monsieur Dussaq.  Their marriage only got worse when Luna in a fit of jealousy would physically hurt his wife. Losing control of himself when becoming furious was a nature he seemed to inherit.

In a move that would prove fatal, days before the tragedy, Luna bought a revolver then took it home and loaded the cylinder with bullets. On that fateful day, once again, he confronted Maria for her to admit her illegitimate affair with Dussaq but Maria would not concede. Shots rang out where the family was staying. Felix who was visiting them tried to intervene and ran toward the room. But before he could save someone from dying, he too was shot on the chest. Minutes later when the police arrived, they discovered Maria and Juliana were shot in the head.  Maria was unconscious, barely alive, and fighting for her life.  Juliana was lying dead in a pool of blood while Felix was fortunate enough to survive a gunshot wound. Maria died later after days of agony in a hospital.

In Paris court where Juan Luna was charged with murder, surprisingly, he was acquitted on the basis of temporary insanity.  Crime Passionel or Crime of Passion was upheld in favor of the defendant.  It was ruled that Luna briefly lost his mind when he was in a fit of rage and could not be fully held accountable for his violent action. It was also said that he was fighting for his honor when his wife allegedly started having unlawful affair with another man which caused him to lapse in a mental blackout during the clash. However, he was ordered by the court to pay the family’s victim the amount of 1,650 francs in damages.

Note:
Other great works of Luna worth noting includes The Parisian Life, 1892, La Batalla de Lepanto (The Battle of Lepanto) 1887, El Pacto De Sangre (The Blood Compact) 1886, La Muerte de Cleopatra (The Death of Cleopatra) 1881, and many others.