Top 5 must-sees in Lopez Museum’s Trajectories

Do you know where you can find a book that’s almost as old as the Philippines?

Probably the oldest tome you’ll ever see in our 7,107 islands is nearly 500 years old, and it is on display at the Lopez Memorial Museum as part of the ongoing exhibit, Trajectories.

The museum, since its founding in 1960, has grown from an initial collection of 19th century Lunas and Hidalgos to include important modern and contemporary pieces. What started as the personal collection of Eugenio H. Lopez Sr., has evolved into a trusted and well-loved Philippine institution.

The current exhibition explores the way the museum collection grew throughout the years. Here are five Trajectories must-sees:

1. The aforementioned De Moluccis Insulis, the oldest book in the collection

This 490-year old book chronicles Magellan’s expedition to circumnavigate the globe in 1519. The book was written by Maximilianus Transylvanus after he interviewed the survivors of Victoria, the only surviving galleon from Magellan’s expedition.

2. Studies of Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo’s Per Pacem et Libertatem from the St. Louis Exposition of 1904

In 1903, Hidalgo was paid PhP10,000 by the United States colonial government in the Philippines to create a painting representing peace and liberty under American rule. It was featured in the Universal Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904. Interestingly, the fair also featured live indigenous Filipino people, such as the Aetas and Bagobos, as bahag-wearing and dog-eating primitive people.



3. España y Filipinas (1886) by Juan Luna

This tall painting is one of the most important pieces in the museum’s collection. A version of an allegorical painting of Spain and the Philippines, this was commissioned from Luna by the Foreign Ministry in Madrid after seeing an earlier version of the subject, given by Luna to his friend, Pedro Paterno. Later, in 1888, the painting was entered in the Exposicion Universal de Barcelona, and was declared hors concours.

4. The first complete map of the Philippines

The Murillo Velarde map is the first map of our country that was made by a Filipino, Nicolas Cruz Bagay, and printed in the Philippines. First published in 1734, the map shows completeness in the names of coastal towns and interior topography. It was the most

accurate and largest ever drawn map of the archipelago and became a model copied by other cartographers for the remainder of the eighteenth century.

5. In the Market Place (1955) by Anita Magsaysay-Ho

This painting was acquired by the museum in the 1999 Christie’s auction in Singapore. The purchase paved the way for Filipino artists to gain higher international recognition.

Trajectories is open to the public until December 20, 2013.

The Lopez Memorial Museum is at the ground floor, Benpres Building, Exchange Road corner Meralco Avenue, Pasig City. Museum days and hours are Mondays to Saturdays, except holidays, 8am-5pm. For inquiries, call Tina Modrigo at6312417 or send an email to lmmpasig@gmail.com.