The Holy Grail of Philippine Art: Juan Luna’s long-lost painting Hymen, oh Hymenee!

A masterpiece returns to the Philippines after 136 years.

The Philippine Art scene was recently enlivened by the news of a homecoming.

A return of a once thought-lost masterpiece whose existence, since its creation 136 years ago, was only affirmed through photographs and practice sketches.

This masterpiece is the acclaimed Juan Luna painting, Hymen, oh Hymenee!

Hymen, oh Hymenee! by Juan Luna (1887)

Considered The Holy Grail of Philippine Art, hopes of finding it after Luna’s death were slim to none- until it was found and brought home by León Gallery director Jaime Ponce De Leon.

Its century-old absence on Filipino shores has ended, and it is now the centerpiece of an alluring exhibition in Ayala Museum called Splendor: Juan Luna, painter as hero, in time with the 125th anniversary of Philippine independence.

Splendor exhibition poster at Ayala Museum in Makati, Philippines

A Juan Luna Painting That Challenged Prejudice

Hymen, oh Hymenee! was painted by Juan Luna in 1887 in Venice where he and his wife, Paz Pardo De…