Jose Rizal's 'Josephine Sleeping' sculpture to be auctioned for P7 million
"Josephine Sleeping," one of Jose Rizal's last sculptural works, will be auctioned in Leon Gallery Kingly Treasures Auction 2024 on November 30, 2 p.m., at León Gallery—Eurovilla 1.
According to gallery, the sculpture, which will be auctioned for P7 million, depicts the "First Filipino’s last and greatest love, Josephine Bracken."
In a report by GMA News Online, Jaime Ponce de Leon, Leon Gallery founder and art director, said that the sculpture was offered for auction by the descendants of Narcisa Rizal, one of the sisters of Rizal.
Lisa Nakpil of Leon Gallery similarly told the media outlet that the artpiece was given to Narcisa as "Rizal left certain objects to his relatives after he died."
Josephine Sleeping, which is 6 cm in height, 24 cm in length and 7 cm in width, portrays Josephine Bracken lying outstretched on a classical Roman-style couch with a headrest, covered in a thin blanket that outlines her waist and thighs.
The sculpture also shows Josephine's hand modestly covering her chest while she "innocently half-smiled" in her sleep, her tresses parted over her forehead.
Furthermore, the sculpture bears Rizal's personal touch. His signature can be found at the bottom of the piece.
"If Rizal can be said to have ever loved anyone else but the Filipino Nation, then it must be said that he loved Josephine; he was her husband twice over, her open lover in defiance of all his innate propriety and sensibility; she was the one woman with whom he shared that most jealously prized of all his possessions, his name, and also his heart’s intimacies," said Leon Ma. Guerrero, the author of The First Filipino: A Biography of Jose Rizal.
Meanwhile, the bust of Andres Bonifacio, which was acquired from the collection of the widow of Guillermo Tolentino, Paz Reymundo, is also up for auction for P400,000 on the same day.
The bust with bronze paint features a Baybayin inscription that reads "BO-NI-PA-[S]-YO" and with "Bonifacio" below it.