Many visitors to the site of the Battle of Mactan are too engrossed with taking good souvenir pictures they tend to ignore, not one, but two historical markers installed there. The first one installed by the Philippines Historical Committee in 1941 reads:

Ferdinand Magellan's death on this spot. Ferdinand Magellan died on April 27, 1521 wounded in an encounter with the soldiers of Lapu-lapu, chief of Mactan island. One of Magellan's ships, the Victoria under the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano, sailed from Cebu on May 1, 1521 and anchored at San Lucar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522 thus completing the first circumnavigation of the earth.

The second shorter marker was installed a decade later in 1951 and reads:

Here on April 27, 1521 Lapu-lapu and his men repulsed the Spanish invaders, killing their leader, Ferdinand Magellan. Thus Lapu-lapu became the first Filipino to have repelled European aggression.

While both markers remind visitors of one and the same event, there is a noticeable difference in interpretation. The 1941 marker glorifies Magellan and the first circumnavigation of the globe, while the 1951 marker glorifies the victory of Lapu-lapu over European aggression. Surely, this paradigm shift can be placed in its proper historical context. In 1941, the Philippines was still a Commonwealth under the United States of America. A decade later, it was a free and independent nation. Thus, these two markers tell us much more than dry facts on the battle of Mactan. They reflect a post-lndependence (1946) rewriting of Philippine history.

Although they were not trained historians or academics, Filipino artists from Juan Luna to Fernando Amorsolo to Guillermo Tolentino to Carlos V. Francisco likewise tried their hand (and brush) at historical interpretation and expressed this through their work.

After reading Antonio Pigafetta's first-person narrative of the Magellan expedition, Juan Luna made a study of the battle of Mactan and dedicated it to his friend Jose Rizal, who had just published an annotated version of Antonio de Morga's 1609 work Sucesos de las islas Filipinas. This study, probably in oil, was completed in November 1890, but remains unlocated. Unfortunately, the study is believed to have been one of the cultural casualties of the Battle for Manila 1n 1945. While this study is not as large and impressive as Luna's prize-winning historical painting Spoliarium, it is significant for all Fllipinos struggling to make sense and coming to terms with their own history.

In his own way, Luna took Pigafetta's account and tried to understand it from a Filipino point of view. In a letter to Rizal, he explained:

I have made a study [boceto] of the death of Magellan [Magallanes] according to the description of Pigafetta; it is a very important event in our history. If I give it the title Death of Magellan, it is a tribute in admiration for this great man (a Portuguese to boot, as Blumentritt would say); but if I make it, as it should be, Victory of Lapulapu and Flight of the Spaniards instead of Death of Magellan, every ridiculous fellow will criticize it, and the painter will be finished and the poor citizen will find himself against the wall. At any rate, I am dedicating this sketch to you, that is, if you like it.

Through his art, Luna was practicing history as part of being Filipino. Using a biased 16th-century account written by a foreigner, Luna was able to highlight Filipino intervention in history. Contrary to popular belief, the reading and rewriting of Philippine history from a Filipino viewpoint did not begin in the 1960's with the works of Teodoro A. Agoncillo, Renato Constantino and Amado Guerrero a.k.a. Jose Ma. Sison. The pioneers of what is now referred to as "nationalist" history traces its roots to 19th-century pioneers who were non-historians—Juan Luna and Jose Rizal.

Pigafetta's account is a widely read text which was was also used by Fernando Amorsolo as part of his library research before embarking on a commission for the Cebu High School. Describing the finished work in a 1939 interview, Amorsolo said:

I have painted hundreds of objects and I have gone far and near to satisfy the tumultuous craving in my heart. But there is not one which has thrilled me and given me more satisfaction than The First Baptism in the Philippines, a large historical painting which was ordered and paid for by the Cebu High School. In the first place, the picture is of historic significance; it depicts a very historical event in our history. The rendering of the whole composition is really I accordance with my art, and to my mind, my colors were in perfect harmony.

Better known for his brilliantly-lit landscapes, flattering portraits, and genre paintings of tanned, smiling dalagas in traditional costumes, Amorsolo's historical painting is a departure from his regular commercial output. Even in terms of slze, this was a work of large dimensions, different from his usual easel-sized paintings. First Baptism required many detailed sketches and studies for each figure and every object like mats, jars and pieces of Oriental ceramics that comprised historical details for the finished painting. All these diverse elements were drawn, color studies completed and carefully set in the over-all composition, before being transferred to the canvas. The effect may have been striking as history, but somewhat theatrical or contrived as a painting.