Juan Luna painting, dozens of artworks from Spain go on display in Intramuros

Around 53 artworks replicas from the main national art museum in Spain, Museo Del Prado, will be coming to the streets of Intramuros this June to turn them into “public art spaces.” (PNA photo)

MANILA—Around 53 artworks replicas from the main national art museum in Spain, Museo Del Prado, will be coming to the streets of Intramuros this June to turn them into “public art spaces.”

The Department of Tourism (DOT) said the exhibit, dubbed as “El Museo del Prado en Filipinas,” will include a photo replica of Juan Luna’s “La Muerte de Cleopatra,” a painting he entered in a contest in Madrid, Spain which won a silver medal.

This exhibit, which will run for three months — June to August — is a joint project of the Intramuros Administration (IA) and Embassy of Spain in Manila.

IA Administrator Atty. Guiller Asido said the photo reproductions of the Spanish artworks are currently on display at the Ayala Triangle in Makati coinciding with the celebration of “Dia del Libro” (World Book Day), organized annually by the Instituto Cervantes.

The exhibit at the Triangle will last five weeks before moving to Intramuros in June when the Spanish Embassy donates the photographic replicas to IA.

“While the historic fortress is in itself a living museum, seeing realistic photos of works of the great masters in its streets will be an added bonus,” Asido said.

DOT Secretary Wanda Teo, for her part, lauded the undertaking between the IA and the Embassy of Spain noting that it “accentuates the grandeur of Spanish dominance” on Filipino culture.

Teo also described the inclusion of Luna’s painting as a “fitting tribute” to his birth anniversary this year.

“The exhibition becomes more relevant to us Filipinos with the inclusion of the great work of Juan Luna, a fitting tribute to one of the most revered Filipino artist of the 19th century who marks his 160th birth anniversary this year,” Teo said.