Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-31

II N
In the Prado art galleries of Madrid,
Spain. there hangs large painting, "Spo-
liarum." 1t is not what the average tour
list would call a pretty picture. 1t repre-
sents the pen of the Roman Coliseum,
wherein were thrown in a heap the slain
In combat-the gladiators, the martyrs
and the beasts The dead are CHASTITY re-
alstic. weltering in blood and covered
with the dust of the arena. Those who do
not pass IT by nj once pause only a mo-
ment to shudder y very few remain to
admire it.
In the lower right-hand corner, in small
square letters, is written the name Juan
Luna. The average visitor to the art gal
leries who has seen the name before on
other paintings, is under the impression
that it is that of some Spanish artist Few
Know that the artist is full blood Fill
Pine. who until he was sixteen ran bare
footed, in company with his three broth
ers. about the tropical jungles of northern
Luzon, throwing stones at the monkeys,
and was clothed in the loose cotton trou-
sers of the Filipino country boy.
One of these brothers was Antonio, aft
erward the commander-in-chief of the Fill
ipino armies. who, it is said by many, was
assassinated at the instance of Aguinaldo.
The others were Jose and joaquin. Citt-
zens of Ilocos will tell you today of the
boys-how Antonio. with his wooden
sword commanded squads of his school
mates, unconscious that he was later 10
lead them on in battles that would be in
earnest; and how Juan was the quletest or
them all. disposed to ramble off alone 10
contemplate the natural beauty OF the
tropical scenery, that afterward was 10
furnish color for pictures that now hang
N the national galleries or Europe, ana
for other pictures, not yet gwen 10 the
public. which are likely to make him the
Verestchagin of the Philippine campaign
Later the four brothers went TO coIleSe
in Manila and gained high honors. Ihen
upon his promotion Juan, who had already
developed Il pronounced artstlc peht, was
sent to Rome TO study art
The young Filipino went alone 10 folne,
a stranger. unused to European customs.
But it did not take him long to find frlends
among the cosmopolitan community OF ART
students who lived and studied in Rome
He settled down in the heart of artistic
Bohemia in the Via Margretta, sharing
his studio with an American and Span
lard.
Many stories are told of Luna by artists
who knew him then. His American room
mate says of him:
He was a very modest and retiring boy
until he became acquainted with his new
surroundings, then he became as noisy and
full of pranks as the worst of us. l think
Il
made to feel his color, but with the ex-
ception of a few Americans he was uni
versally treated as a brother and social
equal by all. The Spanish students were
especially proud to claim him as a com
patriot, for even in his first year Luna
showed marked artistic ability.
Luna had a liberal monthly allowance
from home. for his father was a we'll to-do
planter, but he showed none of the orien-
tails capacity for making his income go q
E1 ,,fr na ,,
usually found him dead broke, like the rest
Of us In that respect he had the true
artistic temperament. l remember one in
cident illustrating that point of his char
acter
I'VE were all at jovial gathering of
students. when the news was suddenly
announced of the death of a young French
boy who had been working his way through
the art school. y dead silence fell over the
gathering. Everybody looked thoughtful,
We all knew that the dead boy had not a
penny Luna was the first to break the
silence lie picked up Il scrap of paper and
Wrote on 1t, then picked up his hat and de-
posted tie paper in it.
Boys lie said, 1 have not a single
soIdo To start this collectiOn-I am living
on credit-but begin it with a promissorV
note OF loo forins, payable at the first of
Then he passed around the hat and soon
collected enough to send the dead student
nome to France to be buried
ouch incidents, with his winning per-
sohaIltv, soon made Luna extremely popu-
Elr' AT that time Signor NIancini was
hlng Humberts minister of foreign of
lailS ana ne became a great patron of art
" saturday evenings he held receptiOns i'm
ms mansion, TO which he invited the art
atu"Tiis OF Rome. Mancini took an espe-
Ci'l hklnS TO the young Filipino and every
saturday evening found the latter at the
receptions In this way Luna met the King
e Sl queen OF Italy and they also made a
i ha1 ne OF him Both of the sovereigns
mad him paint their portraits repeatedly
some OF which now hang In the art GAL
4eiles OF the royal palace at Rome.
Beng such a faVorite with all II was
o ot,, natura! mat he should join his fellow
students in many of their widest celebra
uonS. remember one night in particular
We had been celebrating in a lively rnan
ner somebody's birthday In one of the
st . 1t was past midnight before we
started home. The full moon hung over
the housetops Luna had become SEN
arated from the rest of u.s. | remenher
Mayore. ''-' Id LID
Boys he shouted upon seeing us. look
out for the brooksv
He was making his way along SLOWLY.
carefully jumping over the shadows Cf
some renee posts. Suddenly he came to
the huge shadow of a church tower. He
paused A'e
Too wide-I must wade he murmur-
ed Then he pulled off his slippers and
""lhtu uCTbSS the shadow, never cracking
a smile the while
But somehow he got back to the studio
before us As we came up the stairs we
heard his voice shouting military com
mands In Spanish.
Alto thalU! Cargo GoadDl Fuego
lnre). came down to US with a loudness
that must have awakened all in the house
when we got into the studio Luna was
marching up ana down the room before n
row of empty bottles with a mahl stick
in his hand as a sword Now and again
he turned to the bottles to deliver stem
torian commands.
What are you doing?" shouted Rodri.
gueZ. our Spanish roommate.
Leading my countrymen on against
Spanish tyranny, Luna informed him
very solemnly
In his third year In Rome Luna began
already to attract much attention with his
paintings. Even then he had sold some
Of his canvases for unusually good prices
"Ope evening we were strolling about in
the moonlight, and chance led up into
the ruins of the Coliseum. We happened
70 pause in a small square of brick walls
Here said Luna, the dead were drag
ged In after the fight
He stood there long time in silence
Suddenly he started up.
have an idea he said, and shall
begin work al once
TT was then that Luna first concaived