Damián Domingo was a self-taught master artist from Tondo whose skilled hand and distinctly Philippine style made him a highly sought-after painter of official portraits and religious tableaus. His albums of watercolors immortalized the diverse costumes and lifestyles of early nineteenth-century Philippines, and it was this expertise and acclaim that led to a trailblazing career as art teacher and director of the first Philippine art academy — the first in the Western tradition in Asia — and to his painting of the earliest known self-portrait by a Filipino artist.

This lushly illustrated book explores his life and historical milieu through meticulous scholarship. His surviving masterpieces, including his rediscovered self-portrait, are reproduced in pristine detail, along with selected works from his contemporaries and successors in the art world.