1915 / Oil on canvas / 80 x 51.5 centimetres / Artist: Fernando Amorsolo /Joselito D. Y. Campos Jr. Collection

In this early work, Amorsolo already established the type of Filipina that recurs throughout his genre paintings. Although it is a portrait of a particular individual, it is better known as “dalagang Filipina” (Filipina maiden), the ideal type that was the universal image and model of Filipina pulchritude for many decades. She has soft features; the bone structure of her face is neither prominent nor obtrusive. Her face is rounded oval. Her large eyes are kind and mild. Her sensuous lips suggest a smile. Her chin is slightly cleft. Her complexion is a clear light brown with warm rosy tones, enhanced by a yellow bandana that also sets off her dark hair. The graceful neck emphasizes the white native blouse with its wide neckline and large, flaring, and transparent sleeves.

Amorsolo did not embellish the costume with embroidery as in 19th-century Filipino portraits because his interest was not in recording material prosperity but in creating and celebrating an ideal type of Filipino womanhood. The natural setting of trees and flowers also romanticizes the subject, who holds a tray of flowers tilted toward the viewer as though to present and offer them. This conforms to the traditional image of woman offering something, whether fruits or flowers, in the implication that she whose culturally defined role is to give pleasure and to offer services is herself an offering to the privileged male.