Analysis on the El Asaninato del Gobernador Bustamante’ by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo
'El Asasinato del Gobernador Bustamante' by Felix R. Hidalgo. Photo source: wikimedia commons. This massive painting hung in the ‘hall of the masters’ at the national museum depicts the scene of the assassination of Governor Bustamante, who was the governor-general of the Philippine islands from 1717 to 1719, and the mob of Dominican friars storming the ‘Palacio del Gobernador’ in rage and anger to kill the governor-general who was seen being dragged in chains by the friars. Soldiers can be seen on the steps of the staircase encircling the religious. We can also see religious banners, crosses and the ‘ceriales’ (processional candle and processional cross) depicting the Virgin Mary and the Eucharist and interestingly, an altar boy near the foreground carrying the processional cross, wearing a Spanish red cassock and laced surplice watching the fiasco as in happens right in front of his very eyes. Hidalgo's depiction of the scene is quite straightforward if you will, b...