December 31, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — A clay sculpture made by national hero Dr. Jose Rizal of his sleeping wife Josephine Bracken was put on public display yesterday at the National Museum of Fine Arts for the first time as part of the commemoration of the 128th anniversary of his martyrdom.
Rizal sculpted “Josephine Sleeping” presumably while he was in exile in Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte province between 1895 and 1896.
According to the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP), Rizal’s artwork “depicts Josephine Bracken, his common-law wife, peacefully reclining on a divan… with her body partially under the sheets and her right arm modestly covering one of her breasts.” Inscribed on the artwork is RIZAL.
The NMP added that the sculpture “honors the woman he loved and with whom he spent his final moments before his martyrdom, beyond his achievements and patriotism.”
The artwork is now on display at the Spoliarium Hall of the National Museum of Fine Arts, which also houses Juan Luna’s “Spoliarium” and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo’s “The Assassination of Governor Bustamante.”
Rizal and Bracken met in Hong Kong in 1895. She went to Manila to have her stepfather treated of his eye disorder by Rizal, an ophthalmologist. They fell in love and lived together in Dapitan. Historians say they married at daybreak before his execution by firing squad in the Bagumbayan field, now Rizal Park.
Also displayed at the National Museum next to “Josephine Sleeping” is a copy of the book “De la Imitacion de Cristo y Menosprecio del Mundo” or “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas á Kempis, which Rizal also signed and gifted to his “dear and unhappy wife” after their marriage in his cell at Fort Santiago.
Both the sculpture – which measures six centimeters in height, 24 centimeters in length and seven centimeters in width – and the book “symbolize the sorrow and agony, and at the same time the bliss and love and happiness Rizal and Bracken probably felt while together,” said NMP deputy director general for museums Jorell Legaspi.
Long under the care of the descendants of Rizal’s sister Narcisa, “Josephine Sleeping” was bought by the NMP at an auction at the Leon Gallery for P31,241,600.
NMP’s acquisition of “Josephine Sleeping” was made possible through Republic Act 11333 or the NMP Act, which “grants (NMP) the means to generate and utilize revenue for the enhancement of our programs and national collections,” Legaspi said.
“Using funds responsibly saved from revenue generating activities over the years, we were able to secure ‘Josephine Sleeping’ just last month, ensuring its rightful place within the National Fine Arts Collection,” he added.
Legaspi also revealed that among the NMP’s revenue-generating projects was opening its spaces for rent for corporate events, meetings and pre-nuptial photoshoots.
Other Rizal sculptures on display at the NMP are “The Mother’s Revenge” depicting a dog fighting a crocodile to save its puppy, said to be a metaphor for the 333-year Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines, and an image of “San Pablo el Ermitaño” which carried a Latin dedication to a Jesuit leader.
Also on display in the Rizal Gallery or Gallery V of the National Museum of Fine Arts is a bust of Ricardo Carnicero, who was political-military governor of Dapitan. Rizal’s sketch of the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin and a portrait of his eldest sister Saturnina are also on display at the museum.
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