1942 / Oil on canvas / 45 x 65 centimetres / Artist: Fernando Amorsolo / Jorge B. Vargas Museum Collection, University of the Philippines Diliman.

Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972) remained as one of the most prolific painters during the Japanese occupation producing portraits, landscapes of genre scenes as well as numerous sketches. Amorsolo also painted a series of scenes depicting the carnage of Manila. Bombing of the Intendencia, done in 1942, depicts the Intendencia in Intramuros (located at the south bank of the Pasig River) as it is consumed by flames. The Intendencia housed the mint, customs offices, and finance bureaus. It was one of the first buildings to be destroyed when Japanese bombs were dropped on Manila in December 1941. The building again suffered major damage from American artillery in 1945.

The image in Amorsolo’s painting is derived from an actual photograph of the incident. The black-and-white photo depicts the burning Intendencia in the background while people on the bridge watched. On the right-hand side of the picture is a boat in the Pasig River depicted in its exact position in Amorsolo’s painting. In both images, the people in the foreground are hazy, their faces indiscernible. While the people captured by the camera seem to be merely watching the flames engulf the building, Amorsolo depicts people fleeing from the scene, their belongings in tow. The boat on the right is shown in the painting at a more precarious angle, teetering as if about to sink. Amorsolo also added more dramatic elements to his composition by rendering the scene in color, using black, greys, and strong yellows and orange. In his work, one can almost smell the flames as it consumes the building and threatens to envelope the whole scene. In his signature style, Amorsolo situates this historic scene amidst the orange sun at dusk. Like the actual photograph, this work is significant in that it records for posterity a very important historical event. Although Amorsolo’s Bombing of the Intendencia may have revealed the darker side of war, one can also say that it was the dramatic content and composition rather than the urgency of the moment that was captured in this rendering.