By Hanah Tabios The National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) continues to make improvements in its exhibition spaces, in preparation for its reopening once quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila have been eased. National Artist Fernando Amorso's notable artwork "Bataan" (1942) is now placed at the center panel of the National Museum of Fine Arts’ Silvina and Juan C. Laya Hall. (Photo by: National Museum of the Philippines/MANILA BULLETIN) One of its recent makeovers is the rehanging of National Artist Fernando Amorsolo’s notable painting “Bataan”, which now found a new home at the National Museum of Fine Arts’ Silvina and Juan C. Laya Hall, in addition to the World War II era artwork collection. Now placed at the center panel of Laya Hall, Amorsolo’s 1942 oil in canvas painting is among the most recent loans to the NMP from the Judge Guillermo B. Guevara Foundation. Judge Guevara is known as a history aficionado who started collecting the works of Amorsolo in the '50s. According to the Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation’s website, Amorsolo's family, who lived in the Japanese-occupied city of Manila, were not also spared from the devastation of the war. The artist's career reached its peak at the height of the second World War in the Philippines, hence, most of his canvases depicted human sufferings and tragedies. One of his widely regarded artworks, “Bataan” pictures a woman clutching her veil while kneeling in front of her dead son who was apparently a guerilla soldier killed during the battle. The mother is looking up to the sky with sorrow etched on her face. The NMP’s Laya Hall also displays Amorsolo’s other notable artwork depicting the grim realities of the war, such as the “The Burning of Manila” which was also created in 1942.