Along with Félix Resurrección Hidalgo, Luna is one of the first Filipinos to excel and earn recognition in the international field of arts and culture.

Although Luna decided to move from Madrid to Paris, France in October 1884, he had to travel back and forth the two cities in order to meet the demands for portrait jobs, including the task of assisting Filipinos to push for reforms in the Philippines through the seat of the government of Spain in Madrid.

[14] It was the Spanish Senate, through the influence of King Alfonso XII of Spain, who commissioned Luna to paint The Battle of Lepanto.

[2] Graciano Lopez Jaena, another Filipino hero, also gave Luna and Hidalgo a “congratulatory speech” for their success.

For this reason, the widow of King Alfonso XII of Spain, Queen Regent Maria Christina of Austria, herself was the person who unveiled Luna’s masterpiece at the Senate Hall of Madrid in November 1887,[8] together with Pradilla’s La rendición de granada.