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Geronimo Cristobal

Giant clam shells and shipwrecked ivories: The enduring allure of Philippine craft

When I visited the Sagrada Família, I noticed six giant clam-shell holy-water stoups from the Philippines installed near the rear of Architect Antoni Gaudi’s...

The first Graphic cover

I have always been interested in where modern Philippine culture began, how it spread, and what images were used to represent the nation. Print media...

18th-century Dutch print of Batanes refutes a Chinese scholar’s territorial claim

A recent report says Chinese scholars at a 30 June 2026 symposium at Jinan University claimed that China has sovereignty over Batanes, describing the...

Portrait by premier Filipino painter Damian Domingo rediscovered, went unnoticed for nearly 200 years

EXCLUSIVE: An important 1833 portrait by Damian Domingo, considered to be the father of Philippine painting, went unnoticed for centuries and has now been...

Florante at Laura as ‘cuadro historico’

When I gave a lecture on Francisco Balagtas’ (1788–1862) Florante at Laura to graduate students in literature at the University of the Philippines, I...

EXPOLIARIVM: The expatriate life of Juan Luna’s famous painting

While examining the archives of the Biblioteca Nacional de España, I encountered an albumen photograph labelled “Sala de pintura y escultura at the Exposition...