PROPERTY FROM THE ROBERTO T. VILLANUEVA COLLECTION

Provenance: a) Private collection, Laguna
b) Private collection, Morong (Rizal), Laguna, Cavite

ABOUT THE WORK

This other image of “La Inmaculada Concepcion” The Immaculate Conception in molave hardwood is an older rendition of the title from Morong (the original name of Rizal province), Laguna, or Cavite. Filipino antique aficionados call this form of the Virgin Mary as “a bell– shaped Virgin” because of its elaborate dress, which hovers between the Spanish Medieval and the Spanish Renaissance of the 15th–16th century (the Italian Renaissance was 14th century) with its long blue cape, red skirt with front clasps, blue surcoat, blue bell sleeves, tight red bodice, and white lace ruff. The hair is long and articulated; there is no “suksok” pleat at the back, indicating an earlier image. Three cherubs with disturbed expressions adorn the “nube” cloud base. It is a rendition of the immensely popular, early seventeenth century cult image of “Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Buenviaje” Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage of Antipolo, whose official iconography is none other than that of “La Inmaculada Concepcion.” According to senior antiquarians, folk images such as these were usually sold by local carvers and vendors to pilgrims in church patios during fiesta time. After thorough and lengthy consultations with the bishops for many years, Pope Piux IX issued the bull “Ineffabilis Deus” in 1854 which, after centuries of impassioned debates between the foremost theologians and intellectuals within the Roman Catholic Church, finally declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: “We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary , in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by the faithful.” The 1854 declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the bull “Ineffabilis Deus” by Pope Pius IX was further reinforced and confirmed by the papal–approved Marian apparitions at the Chapel of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul on the rue du Bac, Paris in 1830 (“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.” and later at the apparitions in the grotto at Lourdes in 1858 (“I am the Immaculate Conception.”) Roberto Villanueva (o 1920) was a famous industrialist in the power generation and sugar production sectors and one of the Philippines’ richest men during his time. He was the founder and general managing editor of the Manila Chronicle in 1945, president of MERALCO Manila Electric Company 1961, chairman of MERALCO Manila Electric Company 1961, associate editor of the Manila Chronicle, 1945–47; chairman of the Binalbagan–Isabela Sugar Company, 1949–62; president of Trans-Philippines Investment Corporation, 1970–84; president of Atlantic Gulf & Pacific of Manila Inc, 1971. He was also a member of the board of the FEBTC Far East Bank & Trust Company; two–term president of the Philippine Chamber of Industries; member of the Monetary Board; president of Jaycees International; chairman of the PDCP Private Development Corporation of the Philippines; chairman of Lepanto Exploration Asia Inc; general manager of Philippine Portland Cement Co, Philippine Planters Investment, and Pampanga Sugar Mills Investment Co; director of the NDC National Development Corporation; member of the National Forestry Council; chairman of the Philippine Standards Association; member of the International Bankers Association, Washington DC; the Philippine–Japanese Economic Cooperation Committee; the Philippine–Japanese Society; and the Sugar Club of New York. Roberto Bosch Villanueva was a son of Manuel Villanueva and Eugenia Bosch. He married Corazon Grau. He was known to have had all his three sons Roberto Jr, Luis, and Eduardo Grau Villanueva educated in the top Ivy League universities. Roberto Villanueva’s great contribution to Filipino culture was his collection of Filipino modern art mostly by Vicente Manansala, Hernando R Ocampo, and Cesar Legaspi as well as a 500–piece selection of excavated and shipwrecked Oriental ceramic tradeware from 800–1900 AD. Villanueva collected across a wide spectrum of Filipiniana, including folk “santos.” Acknowledgments: (“The Diarist” by Thelma Sioson–San Juan)