Bonifacio Monument



It is probably the most moving depiction of Filipinos ever sculpted. And it is only fitting that it's about the country's foremost son- Andres Bonifacio, the great plebian. 

Unlike the Rizal monument in the Luneta, which was designed by a Swiss, (and was subject to controversies and debates even before its existence) the Bonifacio monument was designed by a Filipino, Guillermo Tolentino. 

The Supremo stands in a ready yet calm manner while his young squire stands at the back depicted with his youthful aggressive stance. On the left, the young and the old are represented, with the fist of the old man in the air as if saying, "enough!". 

There is also a depiction of a blood compact, while the two priests of the "Gomburza" are seen in their violent end. Burgos faceless in his final moments yet it sends that haunting feeling. 

These are fragments of the soul of our nation. Guillermo Tolentino's art and genius have kept it alive. The Supremo lives in this, in all of us, in our upheavals and aspirations as a nation.

~ Pasig City December 2016

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