A series of paintings by Leonardo Cruz was unvieled recently and can be observed at the Rizal Shrine in Fort Santiago, Intramuros, Manila. The collection is launched as part of the 146th birth anniversary of Jose Rizal.

The twenty-eight oil on canvas paintings depicts crucial scenes from Rizal's celebrated novel, the Noli me Tangere. This is the first time that the novel is portrayed in this medium since its debut 120 years ago. This also tells us that the novel can still get hold of our imagination and inspire our patriotism.

The Penguin Books lately printed a new translation of Noli me Tangere as part of its Penguin Classics line. The publishing company hailed the novel as one of the great novels of the Philippines and that it sparked the Philippine revolution.

Leonardo Cruz related that it has been a long time dream of him to paint the novel using oil as medium. His dream came true only after retiring from his job in advertising. He also said that the novel caught his fancy when he was still a young boy and would picture out the novel in his mind, as if he is present during the events depicted. When Cruz was asked why he did the paintings, he related that he also felt Ferdinand Blumentritt's, Rizal’s German friend, sentiments towards the novel when Blumentritt said, "Your work, as we Germans say, was written with blood from the heart, and because of that, the heart also speaks."