A landmark work by the 19th-century Filipino painter and activist Juan Luna is one of the newest highlights at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Una Bulaquena is one of Luna’s most enigmatic works. The painting depicts a young Filipina woman, poised and composed in traditional attire. In one hand she holds a handkerchief. In the other, an ivory fan.
Painted in 1895, the work is a National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines, and offers a rare glimpse into Luna’s softer, more introspective style.
The Badoc-born artist is perhaps best known for his epic paintings, which reframe moments from ancient history as allegories of colonial oppression. His famous Spoliarium, for instance, is set in ancient Rome and shows dying gladiators being dragged out of an arena, stripped of their weapons, armor and dignity. The painting can be seen as a metaphor for colonial brutality and apathy. On the far right of the painting is a weeping woman often interpreted as representing the “Mother Country” as she witnesses the plundering of her people.
Una Bulaquena is a very different painting. It is more personal and restrained. If Spoliarium roars with political symbolism, Una Bulaquena whispers of grace and the complex interiority of its subject.
“Una Bulaquena is one of Luna’s most recognisable works,” says Jorell Legaspi, deputy director-general for Museums of the National Museum of the Philippines, which has loaned the painting to Louvre Abu Dhabi for a year.
“It has inspired many creatives and pop culture here in the Philippines over over the decades. The painting is our second largest Juan Luna painting after Spoliarium.”
Though less overtly political than Spoliarium, the painting still challenged Eurocentric aesthetics through its dignified portrayal of a Filipina subject. “It represents a total opposite of what a 19th-century artist who is trained in the European canon would feature,” Legaspi says. “It depicts a Filipino woman, as opposed to what you would have in a European subject painting, especially if its depicting nobility or aristocracy.”
That’s not to say that Una Bulaquena does not have its own regal flair. The woman depicted in the painting comes from upper middle-class society, as evidenced by her clothing. Her baro't saya consists of a blouse, saya (long skirt), panuelo (neck cover) and tapis (knee-length overskirt). Interestingly, some of her clothing was produced using pineapple fibre.
“It’s a sheer textile that's exquisite and expensive,” Legaspi says. “Only people of affluent backgrounds can actually afford these types of of garments. These are the symbols or clues that the subject of the painting is from an affluent family.”
But who is the woman depicted in Una Bulaquena? For years, her identity remained a mystery and was left open to speculation. Recent scholarship, however, points to a more concrete figure: Emiliana Yriarte Trinidad, a young woman from Bulacan. Archival photographs reinforce this idea, as Trinidad’s features sharply resemble the sitter’s.
“She was herself an artist and student of Luna,” Legaspi says. “She was only 16 or 17 when she sat for Luna for this painting. There are some written accounts that Luna was actually in love with her but because of the age gap, her parents did not approve of him as a suitor.”
However, Trinidad’s relationship with the painting is not merely as its subject. In fact, she may have had an active role in protecting it through the Second World War, when the Philippines was occupied by Japan, suffering immense destruction and loss before being liberated by Allied forces in 1945.
“There was an assumption that the painting was hers, and that it was a gift from Luna to her,” Legaspi says. “In order to safeguard the painting from damage or being looted, Emiliana herself sold the painting to an art collector and patron to protect it.”
The painting’s provenance is a bit murky after that, Legaspi says. But somehow the painting ended up in the presidential palace, where it stayed until 1986, when the People Power Revolution peacefully overthrew dictator Ferdinand Marcos, ending two decades of authoritarian rule.
“The National Museum of the Philippines was able to retrieve this painting from the presidential palace and kept it under its care since then.”
As Una Bulaquena is regarded as a national treasure, several permits and a great deal of care was required before bringing it to Abu Dhabi.
“The fact that it traveled for the very first time ever, left the Philippines to come to Abu Dhabi, is a huge honour,” Aisha AlAhmadi, curatorial assistant at Louvre Abu Dhabi, says.
The painting now hangs between two other masterpieces from the same era – Auguste Renoir’s La Tasse de Chocolat (Cup of Chocolate) and Edouard Manet’s The Bohemian.
“She demands her own presence, with her poised, elegant and dignified look,” AlAhmadi says. “The scale of the painting also commands its own respect and attention. It made sense to put the painting here, because in this gallery we have the theme of modern subject and landscape. Looking at how artists in the 19th century were looking at portraiture and in different styles.”
For the UAE's sizable Filipino community, the painting offers a strong moment of cultural recognition and connection.
"It can be a proud moment to see something so significant in size, beauty and history," Legaspi says.
Una Bulaquena is not the only work at Louvre Abu Dhabi that is on loan from an institution in the Philippines. A gold cup, dated between 900 and 1200 AD, and a funerary mask from the same period, have been on loan from the Ayala Museum since 2022.
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 1
Mata 11'
Chelsea 1
Alonso 43'
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
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Tamkeen's offering
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UAE players with central contracts
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Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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RESULTS
Catchweight 63.5kg: Shakriyor Juraev (UZB) beat Bahez Khoshnaw (IRQ). Round 3 TKO (body kick)
Lightweight: Nart Abida (JOR) beat Moussa Salih (MAR). Round 1 by rear naked choke
Catchweight 79kg: Laid Zerhouni (ALG) beat Ahmed Saeb (IRQ). Round 1 TKO (punches)
Catchweight 58kg: Omar Al Hussaini (UAE) beat Mohamed Sahabdeen (SLA) Round 1 rear naked choke
Flyweight: Lina Fayyad (JOR) beat Sophia Haddouche (ALG) Round 2 TKO (ground and pound)
Catchweight 80kg: Badreddine Diani (MAR) beat Sofiane Aïssaoui (ALG) Round 2 TKO
Flyweight: Sabriye Sengul (TUR) beat Mona Ftouhi (TUN). Unanimous decision
Middleweight: Kher Khalifa Eshoushan (LIB) beat Essa Basem (JOR). Round 1 rear naked choke
Heavyweight: Mohamed Jumaa (SUD) beat Hassen Rahat (MAR). Round 1 TKO (ground and pound)
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammad Ali Musalim (UAE beat Omar Emad (EGY). Round 1 triangle choke
Catchweight 62kg: Ali Taleb (IRQ) beat Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR). Round 2 KO
Catchweight 88kg: Mohamad Osseili (LEB) beat Samir Zaidi (COM). Unanimous decision
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
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Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
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AIR
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')
Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)
Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Five films to watch
Castle in the Sky (1986)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Only Yesterday (1991)
Pom Poki (1994)
The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)
Asian Cup 2019
Quarter-final
UAE v Australia, Friday, 8pm, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Valladolid v Osasuna (Kick-off midnight UAE)
Saturday Valencia v Athletic Bilbao (5pm), Getafe v Sevilla (7.15pm), Huesca v Alaves (9.30pm), Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (midnight)
Sunday Real Sociedad v Eibar (5pm), Real Betis v Villarreal (7.15pm), Elche v Granada (9.30pm), Barcelona v Levante (midnight)
Monday Celta Vigo v Cadiz (midnight)
