Fernando Amorsolo (1892 - 1972)
Intramuros
signed and dated 1941 (lower right)
oil on canvas
15 1/4" x 18" (38 cm x 46 cm)

Accompanied by a certificate issued by Mrs. Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo
confirming the authenticity of this lot

PROVENANCE
Purchased directly from the artist by Kathryn and Ralph Rawson, who
lived in the Philippines before World War II. Passed by inheritance to
the present owner who is Kathryn's grandniece.

Fernando Amorsolo depicts in this piece the Baluarte
de San Andres, one of the seven original bastions
of pre-war Intramuros. Also called the Baluarte de
San Nicolas due to its proximity to the old Church and
Convent of San Nicolas Tolentino, it was constructed
in 1603 as a crucial fortification for the old Puerta Real
and to reinforce the defenses of the southeastern part
of the walled city. The baluarte faces the direction of the
old barrio of Bagumbayan. It was renovated in 1733,
adding to its defense facilities a bombproof arsenal for
gunpowder, a garita (watchtower), and soldiers’ barracks.
A docking area for boats crossing the old moat would be
constructed at a later time.
The baluarte suffered two destructive attacks. The first
one was during the British Siege of Manila in 1762, when
the baluarte, especially the arsenal, was severely ruined.
The baluarte would be reconstructed at the culmination
of the British occupation in 1764. The second and the
most devastating was during the Battle of Manila in 1945.
It would take a long interlude of forty-two years before
the baluarte would be restored through the efforts of the
Intramuros Administration to its former pre-war glory.
In the work at hand, the iconic watchtower of the
Baluarte de San Andres towers prominently in the near
distance, with the massive stone walls of the old Hispanic
city protruding from it. Despite its small size, the piece
is classical Amorsolo at its finest. Amorsolo captures the
quaint grandeur of the baluarte and imbibes a distinctly
rural character to the environs of the old walled city,
which had been undergoing rapid urbanization at the
time of the American period. The maestro encapsulates
his ideal vision for the Philippine countryside: idyllic,
sunny, and romantic. The flame tree, with its vividly warm
foliage, evokes tranquility. Amorsolo aspires that the
bucolic character of the countryside would be restored
to the modernizing city, in which people harmoniously
commune and become one with nature. (A.M.)