Oblation
The Oblation is a concrete statue done by Philippine National Artist Guillermo Tolentino. It has been a symbol synonymous with the University of the Philippines.
- History
- Symbolism
- Artist
## Biography ## Education
- Style
- Oblation Replicas and their artists
- History
The artwork was originally commissioned by then U.P. President Rafael Palma to Guillermo E. Tolentino. His order was to translate the second stanza of Dr. Jose P. Rizal's "Mi Ultimo Adios" (Last Farewell).
"In barricades embattled; fighting with delirium, others donate you their lives without doubts, without gloom, The site doesn't matter; cypress, laurel, or lily; gibbet or open field,combat or cruel martyrdom, are equal if demanded by country and home." -Translated by Nick Joaquin
It was also inspired by another poem of the national hero during his days in Ateneo, "To the Filipino Youth". "Filipino Youth, now raise your novice brow, Display your wealth of graces, you who are The fairest promise of my native land; And may the Muse come winged infuse The noble thought that, swifter than the wind, Will sweep the fledging mind to seats of glory" -Translated by Leon Ma. Guerrero
The supposedly final design of the preliminary sketches was a completely nude man. President Palma was pleased with it but when it was presented to former U.P. President Jorge Bocobo, he was also fascinated but suggested the covering of the male private part with a fig leaf. This orginal model was cast in silver, in the form of a trophy, to be given away during the annual athletic meet between U.P. and Siliman University. There have been many speculations about the model of the sculpture. Urban legend has it that was director-actor Fernando Poe Sr. while others say it was fireman Jose Villanueva or Tolentino's friend Ferdinand Glenn Gagarin. But according to University Literature, Anastacio Caedo, Tolentino's student assistant, and Caedo's brother-in-law, Virgilio Raymundo both served as the model for the Oblation, using the former's physique and the latter's proportion. The cornerstone was placed on November 30, 1931 at the U.P. Padre Faura, headed by Mrs. Aurora Quezon. The original material when it was created in 1935, was reinforced concrete that was painted to look like bronze. It was the project of the University Student Council of the famous class of 1936 (Marcos was in the same class) that was co-chaired (because there was a tie up in the elections) by lawyer Potenciano T. Illusorio and former House Speaker Jose B. Laurel. The P2,000 cost were contributions of students, officials, alumni, & employees within a two-month fund raising campaign. But it is more commonly owned by the said batch because of the 50 centavos subscription of each member, except lawyer Illusorio who gave P500 of his own money to assure the completion of the statue by March 1936. During that time, rice costs 25 to 30 centavos a ganta & a laborer earned 80 cents a day.
National Heroes day was started in 1927 by then acting U.P. President Dr. Jorge Bocobo, "to keep fresh the ideals of the Filipino race." Some guests of the said event, in different years, were Jose Abad Santos, Pres. Manuel L. Quezon, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, and Dr. Jose P. Laurel. The unveiling of the stone U.P. Oblation statue was during the National Heroes Day of 1939 (last Sunday of August due to Act No. 3827 of 1931).
It was located in the quadrangle of UP Padre Faura, between Rizal Hall and the Conservatory of Music building and was able to withstand the war, V.J. Day and the battle of liberation of Manila. It also aroused accusations of obscenity when it was first unveiled; nuns at St. Paul College were particularly vocal about it.
On February 11, 1949, U.P. 40th anniversary committee head Dean Tomas S. Fonacier led the transferring of the Oblation from Padre Faura to Diliman. There were so many participants that it was said that "such as then was never seen of the Alumni of the University." There was also a symphonic poem composed by Professor Eliseo Pajaro, also entitled "Oblation" that was performed for the first time. At that time, Diliman was envisioned to be the U.P.'s only campus, but evidently it has become a multicampus university. In 1950, as part of the golden anniversary celebration of U.P., the Board of Regents appropriated P15,000 for the bronze casting of the oblation. It was done in Italy with the personal supervision of Tolentino himself. On November 29, 1958, 23 years after it was unveiled in the Padre Faura quadrangle, the 9-foot tall bronze oblation was unveiled with a plaque that has fine handwriting in the likeness Rizal's. The bronze oblation was rededicated on June 19, Rizal Day at the "Oblation Plaza". It was also the unveiling of a new historical marker, Bonifacio's translation of "Mi Ultimo Adios" and "El Filibusterismo", and Bonficacio's own "Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Bayan". The orginal marker was lost and only two lines from Rizal's "A La Juventad Filipina" served as kind of caption for 53 years. For years, the Oblation has been the focus of protests like in 1957, during the daily demonstrations of students demanding the appointment of a UP president, a black cloth was draped on the statue, while in 1960's, the student protesters put a skirt on it. The acts were condemned as "desecratory" but students said that "it wasn't a sacred idol but symbollic of the university's ideals which they thought were being mocked." The Oblation is also used as a logo for various university organizations, among these are The Philippine Collegian and other student publications, the U.P. Cooperative, and the U.P. Centennial emblem. In the year 2004, it was signed to the Intellectual Property Office.