Many years ago, he did a research project for the University of the Philippines to photographically document the church-ceiling paintings on some churches in the islands of Bohol and Cebu. Most of these were done by Raymundo “Rey” Francia and Canuto Avila.
Of these churches, the most beautiful were the churches in Tubigon and Sibonga, both with ceilings done by Francia. The former was destroyed in the most recent Bohol earthquake. The Tubigon ceiling paintings would probably still be there pressed somewhat under the fallen roof.
He can only conjecture the state of it now. And then pray they will not be destroyed in the course of restoring the church structure.
In the course of that research, he found that the greatest problem in accounting for the history of Cebuano painting was the lack of much of the archival material. Even while they were doing this research, they found ceiling paintings being destroyed in the course of repairing and renovating churches. They came only days too late to document the ceiling paintings at Barili town.
When they got there, part of the ceiling paintings, especially of the four Evangelists placed originally at the nave of the church, lay in a scrap heap under the acacia outside the church.
He wished so much to load them into his car if only to preserve them but ethics got the better of him. It would have been stealing.
There is, of course, the problem of seasonal typhoons and earthquakes, which are the other reasons these paintings get destroyed. But beyond that, there is the general lack of understanding of the value of these works.
This has something to do with our expectations of what these works should be and how they should look like.
Compared to the works of Michelangelo, these paintings would perhaps appear primitive. But this is only because of our modernist Western bias. They are beautiful. But one would have to understand a bit of history to understand this.
The figures have a look about them which would seem strange even distorted to our contemporary eyes. One would have to understand that these paintings reflected exactly how the artists viewed their world in the context of the religiosity current in their time.
They were beautiful to their eyes. Because of this, they are true historical testaments.
The learned onlooker tries to come to an understanding of their beauty instead of passing their own subjective judgements. And then he or she would see how the paintings reflect so well an earlier world quite different from what we see now. The learned person knows this is the true way to see history.
The church at Sibonga town is still there. It sits right across the plaza complex only a few hundred meters away from the beach. The church ceiling paintings are signed by Rey Francia and is dated 1927. This date seems not too old. But if one wanted to trace the history of Cebuano painting backwards from where we are now, it is a good enough age.
Before Avila and Francia, there would have been generations of painters whose works still have to be searched. Avila and Francia distinguish themselves for having the most accessible and accountable body of works.
After them there would come a generation of Cebuano painters who formally studied painting in Manila and brought back to Cebu the Manila “academic” style. This generation includes Martino Abellana, Julian Jumalon, Carmelo Tamayo, among others.
They have contemporaries who did not earn their degrees in Manila and who like Francia and Avila were largely self taught. After this generation, at least three more, leading to the young artists we see today.
What does this mean for us in the present day? Clearly, we have material available now for writing our artistic history at least over the last one hundred years.
The story of Cebuano art ought to be written soon if only to provide the impetus to preserve what material are still left. It should be written because it can.
Not too many places in our country can claim this for itself.
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