Spoliarium
The Spoliarium by Juan Luna has been one of the most goriest paintings that I have ever seen.
The formal elements that are shown in the painting are lines, light, shape and time. Lines can be evident in the painting by the lines in the floor and the implied lines that is made by the bodies in the painting. Light is being used here because the artist used artificial light to portray the darkness of the room. The people in the painting represent the shapes and time is shown because we know that this painting is a painting that was made to show the old times.
The principles of design present in the painting are proportion and unity. Proportion is evident because we can see that artists has painted the people in the painting with normal body parts and that it was not altered in any way. Unity is shown because all of the parts in the painting unifies with each other to make single statement.
The Spolarium is about the complex of buildings, including the Saniarium (where wounded gladiators were taken) and the Ludus Magnus (where the gladiators were trained) were located in close proximity to the Colosseum and some, like the gladiator school, had direct access via a tunnel straight into the Colosseum. More large underground rooms, necessary for the services and the preparation of the shows, were made along the main axis of the Colosseum. The Spoliarium was part of the Colosseum complex. For me the Spoliarium represents the pagmamalupit or feistiness of the upper tier power to the lower tiers by making them fight to the death and abusing their power.
The Spoliarium is an oil painting on poplar, the Spoliarium was painted by Juan Luna in Rome in 1884, winning the second prize at the Madrid Academy Exhibition of Oil Paintings. The Municipality of Barcelona purchased this chef dʼoeuvre for the City Hall. It is arguably the most internationally renowned piece of modern Filipino art. Today, it can be viewed in the main gallery located on the ground floor of the National Museum of the Philippines.
Sources:
http://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nationalmuseumbeta/Collections/Spoliarium.html
