Manila | Free Entrance at The National Museum of the Philippines

National Museum of the Philippines

Jobless! Bored! Itching to go out but with a limited budget! Yeah, that's what I am now. Poor me, hehe! Anyway, last week, I saw a friend's FB shared post about the free entrance (until the end of this month) to the National Museum. The next day after I saw the post, I was checking the works of renowned artists. I am no artist myself, don't even know how to draw a simple smiley face but I surely appreciates works of arts from any artists, much more from our national artists.

This famous work of art is what will welcome you at the main gallery of the National Museum of the Philippines: Juan Luna's Spoliarium. The painting depicts that of the bodies of dead gladiators being dragged out of the colosseum after their matches. The Spoliarium is the Philippines' largest painting and the most renowned work of art by a Filipino artist. It won the first gold medal in the prestigious Exposicion de Bellas Artes in 1884.

Also on display at the Gallery Hall VI of the Museum are the artworks of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal. One of his works displayed there is the terracotta sculpture Mother's Revenge, a sculpture that depicts that of a mother dog (the Philippines and its patriots) trying to rescue her helpless pup (ordinary Filipino citizens) bitten by a crocodile (Spaniards). It is said that this sculpture is Jose Rizal's way of presenting what was happening in the Philippines in the hands of the Spaniards. This sculpture was declared a national cultural treasure in 2008 by the National Museum of the Philippines.

Of the many galleries in the National Museum, I became interested and I learned a lot in Gallery Hall II. This gallery presents a collection of drawings of Philippine plants, some of which I've only seen/read from here. These drawings were made when a Spanish pharmacologist and botanist Juan Jose de Cuellar commissioned a Filipino artist to make drawings of the Philippine plants he collected from his field work here in the Philippines. The collections displayed in the National Museum are just a special copy, though, a gift presented by King Juan Carlos I of Spain to President Fidel V. Ramos.

In Gallery XX of the Museum is where you'll find the works of the national artist for painting, Fernando Amorsolo. Amorsolo is known for his paintings that capture the scenes and landscapes in the rural areas. Fernando Amorsolo is the only artist I'm somehow familiar with because I've heard/read (from textbooks) his name from way back my elementary years. Majority of the artists whose works are on display there are all new to me, though some of them I've heard/read on social media/blogs.


More Photos from the Museum

displays from Gallery IV - features works of sculptor Isabelo L. Tampinco and others

Commonwealth arch

The Fall of Bataan/Bataan Death March, as depicted in this painting by Gene Cabrera

IRRI series by Vicente Manansala - features Filipino traits and practices in the rural area,
looks to me like geometric figures were used and put together to form the images, abstract in some way :)

Gallery XXIII - features works of Vicente S. Manansala, national artist for painting in 1981

Gallery XVIII - features modernist art from the 1940s to the 1980s

Planting of the First Cross by Vicente S. Manansala

sitting on a pedestal :P (Lualhati (a marble sculpture) by Guillermo Tolentino)

old Senate Session Hall - before this building houses the National Museum, it was once a Senate Building

spiral staircase at the National Museum

How to get there

The easiest way to go to the National Museum is by riding the LRT - yellow line. To get there, take the LRT from Taft or Baclaran station (for those coming from the south) or Muñoz or Monumento station (for those coming from the north) and then get off at the Central Terminal station. From there, walk your way to the city hall of Manila, take the underpass in front of the city hall and cross to the other side. From there, walk your way to the National Museum.The Museum is around 100 to 200 meters from the city hall.

The museum is open Tuesday - Sunday from 10AM - 5PM. Entrance fee is 150 Php but it's free during Sundays. For this whole month of June however, entrance fee is waived so for those of you who are art enthusiasts, grab this chance and visit the National Museum.

By the way, there are several galleries from first to third floor of the museum. It would take around 3 to 4 hours to finish checking them all out so be sure your tummy is full before going in. If you get tired, there are several benches inside the galleries and some on the lobby, a place to sit and rest a while.

Note: The following are NOT ALLOWED inside the museum galleries: smoking, food and drink, touching museum objects, flash/commercial photography, videography, tripods, bags and carriers, wrapped packages, umbrellas, pens and art materials.

Again, free entrance until the end of this month (June).

~ oo00oo ~

National Museum of the Philippines

Finance cor. P. Burgos Drive.

Ermita, Manila

Date of Visit: June 3, 2015