Amid the congested, even boisterous, Jesus Nazareno procession, the Quiapo landmark, Padilla House and art gallery, remains a silent witness to the district’s history. It also reminds Filipinos of the importance of preserving heritage structures.
Quiapo, Manila–It was my first time to experience the widely revered Traslacion up close. And what made it even more remarkable was observing the age-old, mammoth Jesus Nazareno procession from the upper floor of an Old Manila landmark, the Padilla House.
Constructed in the 1880s, the ancestral home of visual artist Manuel Padilla’s grandfather, Augusto, whose bloodline traces back to painter Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, has been renovated twice and opened as an art gallery in 2012.
As it’s located at the intersections of Hidalgo and C.P. de Guzman Streets, the Padilla House, also known as the “long white house,” serves as a unique vantage point for the annual Translacion, which commemorates the transfer of the Jesus Nazareno icon from Intramuros to Quiapo in 1787. An estimated eight million Catholics, mostly barefooted, joined the nearly 19 hour-procession last Jan. 9, which is the Nazareno’s Feast Day.
Over a century old, The Padilla House, which also serves as the Padilla clan’s art gallery, still stands at the intersections of Hildalgo and C.P. de Guzman Streets in Quiapo, Manila.
For many Filipinos, joining the overcrowded Traslacion has been a cultural tradition deep-rooted in their faith in the Nazareno’s miraculous healing, protection, and intercession.
Besides abstracted works, the Traslacion was one of Manuel Padilla’s favorite subjects; several of his large paintings at the Padilla House’s gallery depicted the annual procession.
“Padilla has fond memories of Quiapo. He would watch the throng of devotees in the Black Nazarene procession from the capiz windows of his ancestral home and play at the neighboring pagoda house built by a cousin, Canisa Lanuza,” wrote Inquirer’s Marge Enriquez in 2012.
One of the several large-sized paintings depicting the Traslacion by Manuel Padilla
Manuel Padilla also has an impressive collection of abstract works.
Before the gallery’s opening, Manuel, a real estate scion, replaced the ancestral house’s capiz windows with antique stained-glass mosaics. Its roofing and flooring have also been changed, but the rest of its Filipino-Spanish architectural elements have been restored. Its original narra materials make up its walls and ventanillas, and its old-world wooden staircase and outdoor iron lamps still greet every curious visitor.
As a visual artist, Manuel owed his skills to their family’s renowned artists, as well as his mentors, such as painter Rene Robles and portraitist Maridel Coching Cruz.
In 2018, Manuel died, which also cued the gallery’s closure.—Oliver Oliveros
Many thanks to Quiapo ng Puso Ko Inc., Bahay Nakpil-Bautista, Basilica ng Poong Nazareno, Advocates for Heritage Preservation, and Heritage Conservation Society.
Photos: Oliver Oliveros
