Summary
Highlights
The episode introduces Fernando Amorsolo's 1950 painting, 'Harvesting rice near Mount Mayon,' depicting a peaceful country scene of women harvesting rice. The serenity of the scene contrasts sharply with the smoking Mount Mayon in the background, a highly active and dangerous volcano.
Mount Mayon is highlighted as the most active volcano in the Philippines, with over 50 eruptions in less than four centuries, some of which were deadly. Historical eruptions have caused significant loss of life and destruction, including the 1814 eruption that submerged a city and the 1993 pyroclastic flow. Recent activities, like the 2018 eruption, have prompted large-scale evacuations, illustrating the constant threat it poses.
Despite its danger, Mount Mayon's near-perfect cone, often compared to Mount Fuji, provides a striking counterpoint to Amorsolo's peaceful harvest scene. The town of Legazpi, likely depicted at the volcano's foot, benefits from the fertile volcanic ash in its rice fields. Amorsolo includes three busy human groups in his composition, showing women planting rice and men plowing, emphasizing the harmony between humans and nature.
Fernando Amorsolo's genius lies not in avant-garde techniques but in his ability to capture the luminous beauty of the Philippines. He painted the women, nature, volcanoes, and rural life of his time with an amazing luminous rendering that captures the unique light of the region. This particular scene was painted in 1950, three years after a major eruption, yet it still conveys peace.
Though lesser known in Europe, Fernando Cueto Amorsolo is a significant figure in Philippine art history, elevated to 'national artist.' His 'Rice Planting' became an iconic image of the Philippines. He exhibited his pastoral and optimistic works internationally from the 1930s. Despite the somber period of WWII, Amorsolo, whose name means 'love only,' returned to peaceful scenes, maintaining an optimistic and luminous view of the world, even in the depiction of threatening volcanoes, which he never portrayed menacingly.