The rooting of costumes
Ca. 1887. Wood, Brass.On display elsewhere
Gaudínez depicts a harrowing scene: a young man, tears in his eyes, carries a small, simple open coffin containing the lifeless body of a young girl with curly hair, likely a close relative. The composition reflects a situation that would have been all too common in rural Philippine life, and may allude to the social and emotional conflicts that arose in the archipelago during cholera epidemics. These tensions were exacerbated by the prohibition of open-casket funerals and the ban on bringing bodies into places of worship, as well as the mandate that victims of contagious diseases be transported directly from their homes to the cemetery.
The piece was included in the General Exhibition of the Overseas Philippine Islands of 1887, an event held in Madrid that aimed to showcase the reality of the Spanish colony. It was presented alongside eight other works by the artist. Following the exhibition, it was incorporated into the newly founded Museo-Biblioteca de Ultramar. Due to a transcription error, however, the work was incorrectly attributed to Manuel Flores, and this misattribution persisted when it later entered the collection of the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid after the dissolution of the previous institution.
Azcue Brea, Leticia, 'Ciriaco Gaudinez y Javier. El arraigo de las costumbres'. Arte y transformaciones sociales en España (1885-1910), Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2024, p.248 nº148
