Malate Church in Manila (Our Lady of Remedies Parish Church)

This painting is by Fernando Amorsolo, perhaps the most-beloved Filipino painter of the twentieth century. The church depicted here is dedicated to Our Lady of Remedies, the patroness of childbirth. A famous Spanish statue of the Virgin Mary was installed in the altar of the church in 1624. The image was the focus of worship for centuries, especially for women recovering from childbirth or with sick children. Destroyed in World War II, the statue was replaced with another image made in its likeness.

The present adobe building, built in 1864, was also badly damaged during the war, and it was restored in the 1950s. Although this building itself is not very old, religious structures have been continually rebuilt on the site since the original church was founded in the late 1500s. Famously, it is from this location that the British troops launched their attack on the Intramuros (the walled interior city of Manila) in 1762, resulting in two years of British occupation.