{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":22333,"auction_id":25,"set_id":44,"lot_number":"73","artist":"Graciano T. Nepomuceno (1881 - 1974)","title":"Holy Trinity","starting_price":300000,"signed_dated":"signed (lower right) \nca 1950","medium":"bas relief, wood","size":"with frame: 28” x 20” (71 cm x 51 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":"Acquired directly from the artist by the de Vera Family, close friends \nof the artist","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"One of the foremost sculptors and santero (icon-maker) of the early 1900s, Graciano Nepomuceno’s narra wood carving of the Holy Trinity resembles that of the traditional representation of the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in Christian art. The Father and the Son sit next to each other, with emphasis on the latter’s position, which is evocative of the declaration of the Christian belief “He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father”. The Holy Spirit is positioned at the top center, an implication that it is “adored and glorified” with the Father and the Son, another principal article of faith in Christianity. A spherical object that is reminiscent of our mortal world can be seen at the bottom center, seemingly guided by the omnipotent Trinity. It is surrounded by an assemblage of cherubim – unearthly beings that stand nearest to the throne of God.
\nContemporary and Spanish colonial era woodworks have a certain degree of admiration among Filipino artists and collectors. But according to Alfredo R. Roces, an accomplished artist-writer, this leaves a “middle ground that is forgotten or unknown”, and this is where Graciano Nepomuceno’s works belong. His works are “neither modern enough nor old enough” for contemporary likings yet these works “speak for themselves”. In direct carving, especially in molave wood, Nepomuceno stood out almost alone, stemming from his experience as an apprentice of Ciriaco Arevalo, a Filipino sculptor who won a gold medal in an exhibition in Spain. Napoleon Veloso Abueva, the Father of Philippine Modern Sculpture, was once quoted to have said that Nepomuceno’s “depiction of familiar themes in high relief and religious pieces were exquisitely carved.”","lot_group":"SCULPTURE","lot_details_html":"
Graciano T. Nepomuceno (1881 - 1974) Holy Trinity signed (lower right) ca 1950 bas relief, wood with frame: 28” x 20” (71 cm x 51 cm)