National Museum releases merch celebrating 140th anniversary of ‘Spoliarium’

The National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) has just unveiled an array of commemorative and souvenir items in celebration of the 140th anniversary of the creation of arguably the most famous painting in the Philippines, Juan Luna’s Spoliarium, as well as its winning the gold medal at Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid in 1884.

An initiative of the National Museum Employees’ Multi-Purpose Cooperative (NMEMPC), the merch are sold in a pop-up store, which runs for a month and is housed at the President Sergio Osmeña Function Hall of the National Museum of Fine Arts, just behind the iconic painting.

Inaugurated on 20 May, the NMEMPC Mobile Museum Shop offers t-shirts, tote bags, wristlets, candies, wristlets, ref magnets, keychains, button pins, gift bags, gift boxes, candies, bull caps, postcards, jigsaw puzzles, art prints, coasters, mugs, mouse pads, sticker packs, foldable round fans, and commemorative medals. There is even a plushie in Juan Luna cartoon. More expensive items include Wagas ukelele, gold and leather watch, and flask and cutlery set. But the most popular item is the limited-edition commemorative Beep Card, the smart card that is used for payment in Metro Manila’s rapid transit system, some buses and even several stores.

Only 1,500 Spoliarium CXL Beed Cards were produced and were completely sold-out on third day of opening. The NMEMPC is planning to produce another batch. The card is produced in partnership with AF Payments Inc., which started the Beep Card in 2015.

During the store’s opening, Sharon Fong, chief commercial officer of AF Payments Inc., reminisced her encounter with Spoliarium as a Humanities student and highlighted the advantages of using the cards, particularly in commuting to the museum.

On the other hand, NMP director-general Jeremy Barns said that the occasion is an opportunity to take another look at the painting and what it means to the Filipino people.

Presently part of the NMP collection, Spoliarium, an oil-on-canvas work that is monumental measuring 425 by 775 centimeters, depicts two dead or dying gladiators being dragged to the Spoliarium, the basement of the Roman Colosseum, after a fight in imperial Rome. Around them are rowdy spectators as well as grieving and indignant characters.

The painting won a gold medal out of three at the Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Spain, in 1884. Dr. Jose Rizal commented that the scene is an allusion of Spain’s colonization and cruelty on the Philippines.

The flipside of the Beep Card shows the Bust of Juan Luna y Novicio by Spanish sculptor and medalist Mariano Benlliure, which has been thought to be lost. The bust is one of the most recent acquisitions of NMP. It was turned over to the museum on 10 October 2023 by the MIB Capital Corporation

According to NMP, ‘[a] century ago, the bust was gifted to the Philippine Government on 12 October 1922, and was part of the National Museum Collection as documented in the 1938 Catalog of Paintings, Sculptures, and Historical Objects by the National Library. Unfortunately, the bust, along with other priceless artifacts and artworks, was lost to the intense shelling of the Old Legislative Building, which served as a temporary repository for such items during World War II. The whereabouts of the bust remained a mystery until [2023] when it appeared in an auction lot from the Salcedo Auctions’ The Well Appointed Life last September.”

The bust is currently on public view near the Spoliarium.

This is second time that NMEMPC initiated a limited-edition Beep Card. In October 2023, they released cards in four colors and designs featuring NMP’s four museums and an icon of their collections, which proved to be very popular.

According to NMEMPC board of directors chairperson Alvin Anthony Claveria, the special Beep Card and other merch not only celebrated the Spoliarium but they are also a way of enticing more people to visit the museums as well as a way for the coop to raise funds.