As a fitting culmination to the successful Splendor: Juan Luna, Painter as Hero exhibition, Ayala Museum is opening to the public for a free admission day this coming March 24, 2024, Sunday, on the very last day of said show.
Presented with the cooperation of León Gallery, Splendor featured the long-lost Juan Luna masterpiece, Hymen, oh Hyménée!, which depicts an ancient Roman wedding. It has been described as the “holy grail” of Philippine art, having been last seen 132 years ago at the Universal Exposition of Paris in 1889.
Celebrating Splendor’s success
“We are very proud of what we have achieved through this exhibition. It showed us that our kababayans, even in this digital age, are very much interested in discussing what being Filipino means in the face of an increasingly global society. With Splendor’s success, we are more than delighted to offer the public a final glimpse of the exhibition through a free admission day,” said Mariles Gustilo, Ayala Museum’s senior director.
“In the face of questions and controversies about meaning and identity in our time, we can always look back to the examples of Luna and the other ilustrados who fought courageously against the thinking that Filipinos are a lesser people and that, in fact, we have the agency to chart our own path as a people and as a nation” added Tony Lambino, President of Ayala Foundation, which manages the Ayala Museum as part of its Arts and Culture Division.
Full museum experience
Aside from Splendor, all other exhibitions of Ayala Museum will be open to the public for free. This includes Gold of Ancestors: Pre-colonial Treasures of the Philippines, the Diorama Experience of Philippine History, Imprint exhibition on Fernando Zóbel, as well as Mindscapes, a showcase of winning works from the Shell National Students Art Competition.
Slots must be reserved to visit Ayala Museum for free on March 24. Registration will be announced on the museum’s social media pages (@ayalamuseum), on a first-come, first-served basis.
