ROMAN FAUTINO
(1877-? -)
TWO CANVASSES of Roman, Faustino, foremost Caviteño painter, entitled Pro Patria (For Country) and Sumpa (Promise) were exhibited in 1904 St. Louis exposition in the United States, attracting international attention and winning great prestige for Cavite Province. Such was a Faustino contribution on to the history of Cavite.
Born in the old town of Cavite on February 28, 1877, Roman was the son of Catalino Faustino, a music teacher and an officer in the Spanish colonial army, and Victoria Topacio. After finishing his Segunda ansenanza under father Zamora, dean of the Manila Cathedral, he enrolled in the School of Fine Arts and Trade in Manila and in polished his painting technique in the Estudio de Arts of the Immortal Juan Luna. A working student, Faustino earned his keeps in the studio of the versatile Agapito Conchu, a public school teacher, musician, photographer, painter and printer, who later became one of the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite.
Faustino’s painting entitled Ensueño (Dream) won a model in the Exposicion Regional Caviteña in 1892. His paintings exhibited in the yearly Philippine Carnival in Manila in the late twenties attracted favorable comments from critics. His notable work included historical paintings like portrait of the Thirteen Martyrs, Padre Florentino, La Cena, and En il Bosque, all depicting scenes from Rizal’s two novels, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. He also a painted a mural in the Porta Vaga church in San Roque, Cavite.
Married to Caroling Ramirez of Cavite, the Faustino couple had four children, including Francisco, a promising painter, and Salvador, a short story writer; Faustino was a veteran of the Philippine Revolution and a prominent mason.