Rizal's last opus 'Josephine Sleeping' going for P7M at auction
MANILA, Philippines — A sculpture by Jose Rizal inspired by his wife Josephine Bracken is one of the many items going under the hammer at Leon Gallery's upcoming Kingly Treasures Auction.
"Josephine Sleeping," which Rizal made during his Dapitan exile and is said to be one of his last works of art, has a selling price of P7 million for the auction on November 30.
The sculpture is 2.5 inches tall, 9.5 inches long, and 2.75 inches wide, and has "Rizal" written on its bottom left, coming from the family of his sister Narcisa.
"Josephine lies outstretched on a classical Roman-style couch with a head-rest, covered in a thin blanket that outlines her waist and thighs," Leon Ma. Guerrero III described the sculpture in "The First Filipino." "A hand modestly covers one breast, she half-smiles innocently in her sleep, tresses parted over her forehead."
Guerrero said the scultpure depicts Josephine as "mother, child, and wife all at once" and "an intimate and happy depiction of his life and love, a rare exception to his allegorical themes of machismo, knowledge, and strength."
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"If Rizal can be said to have ever loved anyone else but tthe Filipino Nation, then it must be said that he loved Josephine; he was her husband twice over, her open lover in defiance of all his innate propriety and sensibility; she was the one woman with whom he shared that most jealously prized of all his possessions, his name, and also his heart's intimacies," he added.
Other valuable items going under the hammer are Fernando Zobel's "Orilla 69. En Amarillo y Gris," "Tomas II," "Azul sobre pardo (Saeta 258);" Carlos "Botong" Francisco's "Tinikling No. 2;" Benedicto Cabrera's "Sabel;" Jose Joya's "Murmurllo;" and Felix Hidalgo's "Portrait of Raimunda Chiudian Roxas."
There are also many paintings by Fernando Amorsolo including "Rice Fields," "Under the Mango Tree," "Lying Nude," "A Man Leading Bullock Carriages at Sunset," "Baguio Trail," "Market Scene," "Bamboo Bridge over a River," and "Lavanderas."
The Kingly Treasures Auction will take place on November 30, 2 p.m. in Leon Gallery in Makati City.
