OUTLINE:

Rizal as a Painter in Dapitan

Rizal’s Son Died
Rizal in Hong Kong

Rizal as a Painter in Dapitan

In Dapitan, Rizal demonstrated his talent for painting. Before the Holy Week of 1894,
Father Vicente Balaguer, a young Jesuit parish priest, was worried. He needed a good
backdrop (canvas oil painting behind the main altar) for the annual Lenten celebration. In
his native city of Barcelona, Spain, a church had one that showed a colonnaded court,
viewed from a wide open gate- a scene depicting the court of Pontius Pilate.

Upon hearing of Rizal’s painting ability, Father Balaguer went to Talisay to talk with the
exiled doctor. He was accompanied by a convent helper named Leoncio Sagario.

"Doctor," he told Rizal, "I need your help. I would like to have a beautiful backdrop behind
the church altar that shows the spirit of the Holy Week. I’ve in mind something similar to
one in a church in Barcelona."

Father Balaguer made some rough sketches as he described the backdrop in the Barcelona
church. " Can you paint in oil such a picture on a huge canvas, Doctor?" he asked.

"I’ll try, Father. You see, I haven’t done any painting for many years, but I’ll do my best."

The following day, Rizal went to the Jesuit priest, bringing his own sketch based on the
latter’s ideas. Father Balaguer was satisfied and urged Rizal to begin the painting job at
once.

The actual painting of the backdrop was a difficult task. Rizal obtained the help of two
assistants-Sister Agustina Montoya, a Filipina nun from Cavite who could paint, and
Francisco Almirol, a native painter of Dapitan.

The trio-Rizal, Sister Montoya, and Almirol- made the sacristy of the church as their
workshop. Rizal sketched in soft pencil the general outline of the picture, after which his
two assistants applied the oil colors.

Daily, Rizal supervised the work of his assistants. He himself put the finishing touches. He
was glad to note that he still had the skill in painting.

Father Balaguer was very much satisfied with the finished oil painting of the backdrop. "
Beautiful, very beautiful," he said. He warmly thanked Rizal and his two assistants for the
work well done.

The gorgeous backdrop became a precious possession of the Dapitan church- Santiago
Church. It was truly a masterpiece.

Senate President Manuel L. Quezon saw Rizal’s painting masterpiece during his visit to
Dapitan. He was deeply impressed by its majestic beauty. At one time General Leonard
Wood, governor-general of the Philippines, saw it and said that it was truly "a Rizalian
legacy".

After the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the beautiful backdrop
was sent to the Museum of the Ateneo de Manila for safekeeping.

Unfortunately, it was destroyed during the Second World War when fires and bombs razed
the city of Manila
Title: Saturnina Rizal
Kasangkapan: Langis
Remarks: Matatagpuan sa Rizal Shrine sa Fort Santiago
Title: Dapitan Church Curtains
Kasangkapan: Langis
Remarks: Ginuhit sa Dapitan noong 1894
Title: A painting on a pair of mother-of-pearl
Kasangkapan: Langis
Remarks: Shells painted by Rizal in Dapitan and given as a gift to Doña Leonor Valenzuela and later passed into the
hands of Doña Margarita Valenzuela
Title: Spanish coat of arms
Kasangkapan: Water color
Remarks: Ginawa para sa pista ng San Rafael sa Calamba noong 1867
Title: Allegory on a pair of porcelain bases of the new year celebration
Kasangkapan: Langis
Remarks: Ginuhit sa Berlin noong 1886
Title: Christ crucified
Kasangkapan: Krayon
Remarks: 1875
Title: Immaculate Conception
Kasangkapan: Krayon
Remarks: Ginuhit sa Maynila noong 1974
Title: Portrait of Morayta
Kasangkapan: Krayon
Remarks: Ginuhit sa Barcelona noong 1885

Rizal’s Son Died

By the beginning of 1896, Rizal was very happy. His beloved Josephine was heavy with
child. Within a few months, she would give birth to a child. As an expectant father, Rizal
had every reason to be cheerful and gay.

"I wish it would be a boy," he told Josephine.

"I also have the same wish," she replied.

"Let us hope and pray," said Rizal, " that it will be a boy. I will name him after my father."

"Suppose," asked Josephine in joking manner, "that it will be a girl?"

"Then, I will name her after my mother."

Unfortunately, Rizal and Josephine were not destined to have a child. One day in early
March 1896, Rizal played a practical joke on Josephine, which frightened her terribly. As a
result of her great fright, she gave birth prematurely to an eight-month baby boy.

The baby was very weak and was gasping for breath. Seeing the baby’s condition, Rizal
immediately baptized him Francisco in honor of his father. He did everything he could to
save the life of his infant son, but in vain. All his knowledge and skill as a physician could
not save little Francisco. Sorrowfully, Rizal saw his child die three hours after birth.

With a heavy heart, he drew a sketch of his dead son. Then he buried him under a shady
tree near his home. He prayed": "Oh, God, I give you another tiny angel. Please bless his
soul."
Rizal in Hong Kong

8 February 1888
After 5 days trip, Rizal arrived at Hong Kong. He boarded in the house of Jose Maria Basa.

19 February 1888
With Jose Maria Basa, Jose Sainz de Veranda and some Portuguese, Rizal left Hongkong
for Macao on board the Kui Kiang. In Macao, they lived in the house of Juan Lecaroz. Rizal
went around for observation, especially the botanical garden.

22 February 1888
After staying in Hong Kong for almost two weeks, he left for Japan on board the Oceanic.

Rizal in Hong Kong

19 November 1891

In the evening Rizal arrived at Hong Kong.

26 November 1891
From Hong Kong Rizal sent to Manuel Camus in Singapore 20 copies of the Fili, 6
of the Morga and 4 of the Noli. He gave Camus 25 percent commission for the
books sold.

1 December 1891
He asked permission from his parents to join them in Manila in their sacrifices and
at the same time, encouraged them to have a little endurance. He said: " I have
learned of the exile of four townmates to Jolo and of the return of my brother to
Manila. I have also learned that mother, Pangoy and Trining, have been
summoned again by the civil government. I am burning with desire to embrace
you. Patience, a little patience! Courage!"

6 December 1891

Francisco Mercado, Paciano and his brother-in-law, Silvestre Ubaldo, escaped

from the Philippines to avoid persecution, and arrived at Hong Kong to join him.

12 December 1891

In a letter sent to Maria, one of his sisters in the Philippines, Rizal broached his

plan of establishing a Filipino colony in North British Borneo.

17 December 1891
On this day Governor General Despujol, offering his services and cooperation forthe
common good. He wanted to point to the latter the ills of country in order tohelp cure the
wounds of mal-administration.

27 December 1891
An article was published in the La Epoca carrying false news about Rizal’s stay in
the Philippines and his influence among the natives. This article carries no
author’s name and was believed to have been inspired by a Dominican friar.

December 1891

Rizal was visited by an Augustinian friar in his house. The friar pulled his ears and

wanted to attack him. But Rizal stopped the intruder by twisting the latter’s hand.
25 January 1892

The duplicate of his diploma in Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery was issued by

the Ministry of Development in Madrid.

30 January 1892

In a letter, Juan Luna favorably endorsed Rizal’s plan of establishing a Filipino

colony in North Borneo. He wished Rizal luck and success in this project

Story:

Rizal was convinced that he could accomplish nothing further in Europe.

Against his will he had been drawn into a political controversy among the
Filipinos. One group was bent upon making him the Filipino leader, while another
group rallied around Marcelo H. del Pilar. Friends of Del Pilar were beginning to
print the kind of attacks that always appear in political conflicts. Rizal resolved to
take himself out of the picture at once. He wrote to Del Pilar:

"I ought not to introduce division in this publication [La Solidaridad]. I

prefer to be buried in solitude and isolation, rather than disturb the harmony and
peace of its editors. (01) My politics -- if the life I am leading can be called
politics -- is to become eclipsed and to leave you as the head of the Filipino
politics. I wish to be sure that I may never be regarded as a stumbling block to
anybody, even though this involves my own fall." (02)

It had become a fixed principle of this great soul to resolve the clash of
conflicting ambitions by sacrificing himself.

He had now lost all faith in the power of any of the Filipinos in Spain to do
effective service for the Philippines. He wrote to Manila:

"If our countrymen repose their faith only in us who are here in Europe,
they make a great mistake. I do not wish anybody to be deceived . . . . This
general credulity that we may be able to aid from these distant lands seems to
me to be a great error. The medicine must be applied close to the wound.

"If it had not been for the fact that I did not wish to shorten the lives of
my parents, I would have returned to the Philippines, come what might. Those
five months when I was there are a living example, a book far better than Noli
Me Tangere. The battlefield is in the Philippines; there is where we ought to be
found. . . . Would to God my parents were not in danger of being killed, for then
you would see me back in our homeland. There is where we ought to aid one
another, there is where we ought to suffer together and possibly triumph." (03)

Rizal desired to get away from Europe for still another reason. Persistent
rumors reached him that some of the Filipinos in Madrid were getting money from
the Philippines by using his name, and then wasting and misappropriating it. (04)
Old Graciano Jaena, who had been the founder of La Solidaridad, but had been
jockeyed out of his position and left in poverty, wrote to Rizal urging him to help
bring about the "downfall of these little patriots who exploit patriotism for their
own profit . . . We should swear to prevent, by every means, the triumph of these
false apostles of the salvation of the Philippines." (05) Rizal would not then nor at
any other time lift a finger against his countrymen, but he could not rest so long
as he was entangled with any affair which was in the slightest degree
questionable. He must get away!

Hong Kong was clearly the right place to go, at least for the time being, not only
because it was near the Philippines, but also because his dear friend Basa was there. Then
in Hong Kong, as Jaena wrote, "You will find a group of enthusiastic young men not yet
contaminated by these miserable passions that divide us in Europe. Stir up their zeal,
direct their ideals into the right road, and you, with our exquisite tastes, will do much good
for the Philippines. . . . I have written to them and they will receive you in Hong Kong as
their master and guide." (06)

He sailed for Hong Kong on the S. S. Melbourne on October 18, 1891. He was the
only Oriental in his class. Most of the others were Germans, for the ship had sailed from
Hamburg. One day the wind blew a door open. A woman said in German:

"If this man in front of me were a gentleman he would close the door."

Without a word Rizal rose, closed the door, and resumed his seat. Then he
pleasantly opened conversation with them in German, and talked so fluently that they
treated him with respectful awe. He was the most cultured and highly educated person on
the ship.

With him he carried eight hundred copies of the first edition of El Filibusterismo,
hoping that he might be able to introduce them into the Philippines little by little, through
ship captains, Chinese, or other travelers. But, if we may believe Retana, "nearly all the
copies were confiscated and immediately spoiled. A few 'sons of the land' possessed El
Filibusterismo, but because of the severity of Despujol, most of the possessors reduced the
book to ashes. The first edition of Rizal's second novel therefore became very rare soon
after it was born. Hence it is that a bookseller in Madrid came to ask for a single copy no
less than four hundred pesos." (07)

When Rizal reached Hong Kong he opened his office as an oculist. Dr. Lorenzo
Marques, a prominent Portuguese physician, admired his skill as a surgeon, and had great
affection for him as a man. All of Dr. Lorenzo's eye cases were turned over to the
distinguished Filipino, and he soon had a thriving practice. He could have become a
successful and renowned practitioner if only this nightmare of his country and his relatives
had ceased to torment his nights. But nearly every mail contained news like the following
from his brother-in-law Manuel Hidalgo:

References:
Zaide, Gregorio F (2003). Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist and
National Hero
http://www.joserizal.ph/dp06.html