S P O L A R I U M.
Juan Luna's famous painting "Spolarium" was painted in a very large canvas and is more or less life size. His painting portrays defeated gladiators in the arena being dragged into a pile of other corpses. On the left side, there are many spectators viewing the spectacle with a variety of expressions. While on the far right side of the painting, is a very notable grieving woman in torn and shabby clothing. .
Horizontal lines are seen in the walls and the people watching the scene. But diagonal lines that denote movement are very obvious and can be seen in the gladiators" slain bodies, in the men dragging them and in the floor tiles. There is a dominant use of contour lines as shown in the muscles of the arms, legs and backs of the gladiators. In the use of color, there is a governing use of red mostly seen in the center that attracts attention of the viewers at first sight. The use of green on the weeping lady's dress creates contrast against the gladiators" red dresses. The intensity of the color red is very overwhelming. Almost all of the colors used are warm colors that I think it is intentional. Luna used the colors in a way that he injects his own symbolism in them. The amount of light in the painting is furthermore balanced for in the right side, there is a significant darkness while on the left side light is focused. The light is visibly focused on the back of the man dragging the corpse and on the upper body of the corpse. Amidst the appalling darkness on the right side, the light is all on the weeping lady. She becomes very conspicuous because of her unlikely position in the painting. Because of this difference in lighting, the mood presented can be distinguished into two, a mournful one and a frightful one. Also, the contrast in lighting, as well as in color, adds in the painting's effective catch of attention. The shapes involved are defined and they work in accordance with the color.
