Domingo Teotico

Background

Domingo Teotico was born on September 15, 1853, in Manila, Philippines. He was the son of Santiago Teotico and Maria Eugenio. His parents were poor people.

Education

After finishing primary and secondary education in private schools, Domingo Teotico enrolled in the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura, where he studied for a year under Don Lorenzo Rocha. Then he studied modeling under Leoncio Asuncion.

Career

After eight years of continuous and hard apprenticeship, Domingo Teotico opened a shop of his own on Palma Street, Quiapo. He worked hard daily and far into the night, with such industry that nearly caused his blindness. Most of his works were woodcarvings of saints scattered in private homes, among which Sagrada Familia, once in the house of Martin Ocampo, is to be mentioned.

During the Spanish regime, he once held the office of the chief of a barangay. The Revolution of 1896 enlisted his sympathy. He supported the revolutionists by giving them provisions. In 1898 he was named chief of communications during the dictatorial government and later promoted to the commandant in the territorial militia. The first civic parade in honor of Rizal, in 1898, was mainly due to the efforts of Romualdo de Jesus and Teotico. He was the first administrator of the paper La Solidaridad which appeared in 1899. A couple of years after peace was officially declared, he died at the age of fifty years.

Achievements

• Domingo Teotico was a celebrated artist in carving and a noted sculptor during the latter half of the 19th century. He won many accolades for his works. While a student his skill was early recognized when a work of his was awarded second prize in an open competition held by the Sociedad de Escultores de Santa Cuz in 1880, in honor of Jose Maria Muñoz, a Spanish hero. Then for presenting a bust of Pope Gregory XV in 1882, he was awarded a silver medal in the centenary of Santa Teresa de Jesus. His works gained some recognition abroad.
  
  His woodcarving Pobre Vencido was awarded a bronze medal in the Exposición General de Filipinas in Madrid in 1887 and in the Exposición Universal held in Barcelona in the following year, 1888, a piece of sculpture was awarded an honorable mention. In the third centenary of San Juan de la Cruz held in Manila in 1892, his sculpture San Francisco de Asis received second prize.
  
  He exhibited a set of carved furniture in the Exposición Regional de Filipinas in 1895, which gained for him a silver medal. The same work received a bronze medal in the Universal Exposition at St. Louis in 1904.

Works

More photos

• sculpture

  • Virgen del Pilar

    1901

Membership

Domingo Teotico was a member of the Gremio de Escultores.

Connections

Domingo Teotico was married to Braulia Gregorio. The marriage produced six children.

Father:

Santiago Teotico

Mother:

Maria Eugenio

Wife:

Braulia Gregorio

References

• Dictionary of Philippine Biography
  1970