There is one spot that everyone in Spain should see, and that is the Museo del Prado located in heart of Madrid which contains masterpieces beyond value.

In 1996, I was in Madrid as a tourist and wandered through the various sections of the city. Madrid then was one of the most delightful capitals to visit because of its art treasures and cultural riches. I was therefore excited when I entered the Prado museum one morning and wandered through its rooms to see the works of some of the world’s greatest painters like Velasquez, Rubens, Titian, Goya and many others.

As I looked at the paintings, I reflected a bit and thought that maybe some of the Filipino expatriates during the Philippine Revolution of 1896 who lived in Madrid may have also entered the Prado museum and admired its collections of paintings.

The museum contains not only Spanish works but many Italian masterpieces like Raphael’s (1483-1570)‘Portrait of an Unidentified Cardinal’, and works of Paolo Verone (1528-1588), among these his ‘The Finding of Moses’.

But as I marveled at the Italian canvasses, I was stunned to see the exquisite title of a painting by the Italian painter Correggio (1494-1534) entitled ‘Noli Me Tangere’ (Touch Me Not), a religious painting with the figure of Christ with arms extended and Magdalene grieving.

As I looked at the painting, I thought of Rizal’s book, the ‘Noli Me Tangere’. We know that Rizal studied in Madrid. Could Rizal have seen this particular Italian painting, and maybe, just maybe, chose to call one of his immortal novels, ‘Noli Me Tangere’? However, this is just a speculation on my part, for we will never know if Rizal copied the title of this Italian work to name his book. To this day we could not find any evidence that he did.

I had also the pleasure of viewing Goya’s works. I came upon his two paintings, ‘Maja Desnuda’ and ‘Maja Vestida’ depicting a young woman reclining on a sofa, one in the nude and the other dressed. What happened next might not endear me to art lovers. I should point out though that at the time the paintings hanging on the walls of the Prado were separated by a cordon, and because of the expanse of the halls, the museum was too big to be totally guarded by the security staff. Spain then was not modern, and in some ways provided scant security to protect the paintings inside the Prado museum.

As I stood in front of Goya’s ‘Maja Desnuda’, the mischievous in me came to the fore, and without any specific purpose but to satisfy myself, I reached out my arms and touched Goya's canvass! I often reflect on this, and many of my friends still doubt that I could do that unthinkable act that today would land me in jail.

When I returned to modern Spain many years later and went to the Prado museum, the place was swarming with security guards.

Webmaster’s Note: This article appeared in the writer’s commentary column in the "Manila Media Monitor", a Toronto-based Filipino community newspaper.


ABOUT TONY P. FERNANDEZ Antonio P. Fernandez or 'Tony,' was born in Manila and grew up in San Juan, Rizal. His father, Tomas Fernandez Lumba, was of Spanish descent and originally from Manila, while his mother, Marina Pasion, hails from Mangaldan, Pangasinan.

He finished high school at San Marcelino Catholic High School and enrolled at Lyceum University majoring in journalism. He worked in Manila as a reporter for the Herald Publications Inc., publishers of the Philippines Herald, Mabuhay, and the El Debate, a daily in Spanish. He also worked in the Publications Divisions of the Philippine National Library as a translator.

In 1966, he was awarded a scholarship to do research and reporting in Spanish from the Instituto de Cultura Hispánica of Madrid, Spain, and lived in that city for several years after which he travelled to various countries of Europe. He then moved to the United States in 1968 where he co-founded the Filipino American Herald, a Seattle community newspaper.

Fernandez attended the University of Washington in Seattle and took up Mass Communications and Spanish. As well, he worked as a Spanish substitute teacher in the Seattle Public School System.

He then moved to Montreal in 1974, and founded Bulalakaw, a monthly community paper, which was later renamed "The Tamaraw Times" and published this paper for more than a decade.

He became the editor of the "The Filipino Star" since its founding and stayed as editor for many years until the Star changed ownership in 1998. Fernandez later joined the Asian Leader in 1998 as a contributing editor and was named the same year as the vice-Chairman of the Montreal Philippine Centennial Movement (Quebec Chapter). He is also the Area Commander of the Knights of Rizal (Montreal Chapter). He is married to Lina V. Fernandez. They have a son - Antonio V. Fernandez who was born in Montreal.

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