MANILA, Philippines — In a feel-good moment in this otherwise politically charged season, the National Museum of the Philippines stepped up to buy Jose Rizal’s “Mona Lisa” sculpture and make it a Christmas gift to the Filipino nation.

A new law gave it seven days to invoke its right of first refusal and match the winning bid of P31.2 million at the recent Leon Gallery Kingly Treasures Auction last Nov. 30.

When the dust had settled days after a fierce bidding war, the Museum board did just that in time for the hero’s 128th death anniversary this Rizal Day, Dec. 30.

The winning bidder, speaking on condition of anonymity, struck a patriotic note and said he “was very pleased that it would be going to a place where it could be shared with everyone.”

Auctions for historically important lots are few and far between because only a handful have made it through the ravages of World War II which leveled the city of Manila. This work is said to have survived because it was buried in a steel drum in the garden of the owner, a descendant of Jose Rizal.

Two other Rizal sculptures had been previously auctioned off at Leon Gallery. These were the “Jabali” (Wild Boar) in 2016 and “The Filipino”, a bas-relief in wood of an athlete, in 2018 which had sold for P16.4 Million and P17.5 Million, respectively. There had been no legal mechanism in those years for the National Museum to acquire these works for the Filipino people until the “National Museum of the Philippines Act” was passed in 2019.

Participating in historical auctions requires not only deep pockets but also the big hearts to safeguard the country’s most precious objects when often government agencies lack the wherewithal. Operating under the imprimatur of a new law, the National Museum did in fact make the opening bid of P7 Million for the Rizal sculpture but dropped out immediately after.

The pricetag for “Josephine Sleeping” established a world’s record for Rizal works of any kind, or almost double the previous world record.

It is is an intimate portrayal in plaster of Paris of Josephine Leopoldine Bracken, the woman Rizal loved the most and married in the last hours before his martyrdom in the Luneta. It is just 9-1/2 inches long and almost 3 inches wide.

Rizal’s “Mona Lisa” is the most personal of his last works, falling squarely into the new law’s categories permitting acquisition at auction of “unique, special and/or original items for (the Museum’s) collection.”

It was the first time the institution invoked its right of first refusal under the new law which granted it the ability of “procurement through public auction.” Previous to that, government auction rules obliged it to seek the lowest bid, which is the opposite of the mechanism in fine art auctions.

Jeremy Barns, National Museum director-general, said “In my view, no other object can match “Josephine Sleeping” for embodying and evoking Rizal’s love for the woman who intimately shared his very last years. As such, it is most likely one-of-a-kind even among the extremely limited number of artworks by Rizal that have survived to our time. Together with the book “Imitation of Christ” which he dedicated to his “unhappy wife” in his last hours, it will be able to help tangibly preserve the story of their relationship forever, for the benefit of all Filipinos and future generations.”

He continued,”I am immensely happy and excited that we have managed to secure “Josephine Sleeping” for the nation.“

The piece will anchor the Museum’s three other sculptures by the National Hero: “Portrait of Ricardo Carnicero”, presented to the be-mustachioed jailer of Rizal and the Spanish governor of Dapitan; an effigy of the tortured elderly “St. Paul the Hermit”, a gift to Rizal’s Jesuit confidante and the saint’s namesake, Fr. Pablo Pastells, and “Mother’s Revenge”, a dog savaging a crocodile that had killed its pup, for Rizal’s family.

“Josephine Sleeping”, I believe uniquely, he made to keep close to him”, said Barns, making it in the same vein as Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” which stayed with him as a highly personal piece made for nobody else but the artist.

In addition, Barns noted, “I am also very happy to secure three other photographs and documents pertaining to Felix Resureccion Hidalgo as they enrich the context we can present around two major paintings on display at the National Museum of Fine Arts, namely, “El Asesinato del Gobernador Bustamante” that can now be dated to the early 1890s and, from the Bangko Sentral Collection, one of the studies of “La Barca de Aqueronte”, the full version of which Hidalgo exhibited at the Paris 1889 World’s Fair.”

“It was a brilliant move on the part of the National Museum,” said Jaime Ponce de Leon, director of Leon Gallery. “It not only enriches the Museum’s collection but also completes our National Hero’s narrative as a human being capable of falling in love so deeply.” He added,

“While this may be the first in our country’s historyphoenix game, it does occur occasionally in European countries when artworks of historical significance are acquired for the sake of cultural patrimony.”

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