Monument of Legaspi and Urdaneta
signed and dated 1923 (lower right)
oil on panel
9 1/2" x 12 1/2" (24 cm x 31 cm)
Accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazoconfirming the authenticity of this lot



Memories Of Spanish Empire by LISA GUERRERO NAKPILThis Manila landmark is important for several reasons : First, it immortalizes the two men — the conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and the Augustinian friar Andres de Urdaneta who was not only a churchman but a seasoned navigator. The pair had been commanded by the King of Spain to find the Philippines, right the wrong done by Magellan’s slaying and bring these islands to heel. Second, they would indeed almost singlehandedly began the 300-year rule of Spain over the Philippines, Legazpi representing the crown and the sword (now sadly missing from the monument) and Urdaneta the Catholic church (brought high as he steps on an anchor.) They both stand tall beneath a Spanish flag, while a seated woman symbolizing victory points to their achievements. The bronze monument was commissioned by the Spanish regime from the noted peninsular sculptor Agustin Querol y Subirats (1860-1909) in its last days of empire but by the time it had arrived in Manila, the Philippines was in the throes of a war with a new master, the United States of America. That new colonial power saw fit, upon discovering the bronze monument in an abandoned warehouse, to install it nevertheless within view of the former Spanish stronghold of Intramuros. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, after all, was also credited with the founding of Spanish Manila and it was thus a superb location although no longer within the ken of the new Burnham-designed city center and newly established neighborhoods. Fernando Amorsolo paints the view in his trademark pink and gold skies, wreathing this symbol of past Spanish glory with a dreamlike, almost wistful quality. Amorsolo would no doubt have reason to long for the days of Madre España as he himself would remember his own artistic beginnings as a scholar at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in the Spanish capital, Madrid. He would be influenced by the greats to be found in the Prado Museum as well as by the famous painter Joaquin Sorolla, a contemporary of Querol.