A visit to the NATIONAL MUSEUM

One ordinary day I found myself wanting to go somewhere but won't take me lots of time and money. Then I decided to visit the National Museum at Manila, Philippines

The National Museum is an educational cultural institution which preserves the permanent national collections that was previously made or used by the Filipinos during their generation back then.

There we found these native backpacks that was made by Vizcayans or those who lived at Nueva Vizcaya. These backpacks were woven rattan and used as food storage or carrier of personal belongings just like how we use our backpacks today.

ancient Filipinos are also fashionable that they have accessories such as necklace and bangles that were made from shells and beads.

as we roam around the museum, I found out how creative Filipinos were. Most of the things they used for their everyday living were handmade. Even their clothes truly amazes me on how it was made. Too bad I wasn' able to take a lot of photos inside because I was too busy roaming around and reading all the details of every item I see, but I will still share some of the photos I took.

The highlight of our visit here was the arts and paintings. I honestly want to see the famous Spoliarium painted by the famous Juan Luna. At first I thought I wont be able to visit the arts building since there's a cutoff time at 4:30 in the afternoon, but still I was able to be there at 4:25 so I guess I'm lucky enough.

Back in 1844, the painting was submitted by Luna to the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes where it garnered the first gold medal. Then now it was the first painting who will greet the guests as they enter the first floor of the National Museum. Its medium is oil on canvass with the dimensions of 422 cm × 767.5 cm. This painting as you can see depicts dying gladiators.

I want to visit again the national Museum to spend more time analyzing the paintings and arts made by the well known Filipino Artists. I've been hearing their names since grade school days during our history and arts class, and now I was able to see their works too.