Niche No. 73 : Juan Luna
Did you know that Juan Luna’s final resting place is interred in the crypt of the San Agustin Church in Intramuros in a brown tombstone marked
“niche No. 73 “?
Juan Luna is the renowned Filipino painter of probably the most famous painting in the country, “The Spoliarium,” which is on display at the National Museum of Fine Arts.
Born October 23, 1857, in the town of Badoc, Ilocos Norte in the northern Philippines, Luna was the third among the seven children of Joaquín Luna de San Pedro y Posadas and Laureana Novicio y Ancheta. He was a Filipino painter, sculptor, and political activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century.
On December 4, 1886, Luna married María de la Paz Pardo de Tavera, a sister of his friends Félix and Trinidad Pardo de Tavera. The couple traveled to Venice and Rome and settled in Paris. They had one son, whom they named Andrés, and a daughter, María de la Paz, nicknamed Bibi, who died when she was three years old.
Luna died in Hong Kong on December 7, 1899, from cardiac arrest.
His remains were buried in Hong Kong and in 1920 were exhumed and kept in Andrés Luna’s house, to be later transferred to the crypt of San Agustin Church.
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