Reimagining Baliwag Church’s paintings and murals

Visual artist Rafael “Guy” Custodio, who is also a restorer of church paintings, is holding a special exhibition on the 19th-century Church of San Agustin in Baliwag, Bulacan.

The exhibit, “Sining at Pananampalataya: The Art of the Church of San Agustin, Baliwag, Bulacan,” features Custodio’s reimagined lost ceiling paintings and murals of the historic religious edifice. It aims to ignite interest among locals and visitors of the artistic heritage of the church, painted perhaps in the last quarter of the 19th century.

The renderings, based on the intricate paintings inside the San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila, are not exactly what the Baliwag Church interiors looked like more than a hundred years ago, but a creative visualization aimed to enhance appreciation, pride and identity.

The exhibit also aims to rekindle connections to the past, leading to a more robust sense of heritage and eventually, protection and conservation. It likewise “highlights the grandeur of sacred art techniques brought to life by Italian scenographers Cesare Alberoni and Giovanni Dibella in the late 1800s.”

Quadratura

Alberoni and Dibella were pioneers in the quadratura technique (trompe-l’oeil) they applied on Philippine church paintings, notably the aforementioned San Agustin Church in Manila.

Quadratura is “a style that skillfully creates illusions of architectural space, transporting the faithful to imagined heavenly realms.”

Based on few archival photographs at the turn of the 20th century, the interiors of the Baliwag church were decorated with paintings of what seems to be floral and geometric designs. These are found on the ceiling, gospel and epistle sides of the wall, transept and altar area.

On the pendentives are paintings of the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. On the walls, murals frame the two side portals and what used to be windows which were later on breached to be converted into side doors.

More proper

While the murals are visible in the photographs and easy to visualize, the ceiling paintings are much of a challenge.

Since very few portions of it are visible in archival images, a best possible reference is the church’s baptistery located at the ground level of the belfry which was most likely painted as well. Unfortunately, it has long been closed off and is not inaccessible from the belfry stairs.

Exploring it through the use of various technologies or perhaps opening it could possibly reveal the theme of the church paintings.

Custodio explained that the goal of the exhibit, hopefully, is to replace the ceiling which he said is already weak and decorate it with more proper or appropriate paintings.

It was Sonia Estrella, he said, who gave him the idea of the church through a personal tour of the city’s landmarks. It was also Estrella who suggested to him the possible replacement of the ceiling and its paintings, which would be more apt for the overall layout of the church.

Notable project

Baliwag’s church art is a testament to the artistry of its people that dates back to the 18th century and produced artists such as the American-era sculptor Roman Carreon and the contemporary painter Tats Villanueva.

A noble project, “Sining at Pananampalataya” opened on 13 November and is on view at the Museo ng Baliwag until 29 November. Free and open to the public, the exhibit is in partnership with the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of San Agustin, local government of Baliwag led by mayor Ferdinand Estrella, Museo ng Baliwag, and partner individuals from the city.