The walls of the reception hall of the Postal Palace are adorned with the tempera paintings of Bartolomé Gallotti, with the theme of children and adolescents who read, write, receive and send letters, that is, they carry out activities typical of the postal service.
There are also two young men who, because of their clothes and instruments, symbolize commerce and industry. All the characters are at puberty, at the beginning of youth, when the development of the autonomous relationship of the human being with his peers begins. They are mestizo children, in puris naturalibus, whose nudes show a perfect knowledge of the human body; the shapes, anatomical measurements and postures, according to the foreshortenings of the different images, are excellent.
The artist placed his young characters within a landscape rectangle, in a seated position, to better achieve the volumes of his models, thus taking advantage of the space and harmonizing with the golden section. If he had painted adults, Bartolomé Gallotti would have required more space, but otherwise he managed to make better use of the surface and respect the architecture of the environment.
The paintings are realistic, with a strong touch of impressionism, because at certain times the author resolves some shapes with lines of spots, thus achieving the desired effect. They are paintings to be contemplated, at least, five meters away.
It is worth mentioning that these are "first intention" paintings, such as watercolor. The backdrops of the paintings are 23 or 24 karat fine gold leaf flakes, square in shape and set in the shape of a checkerboard, alternating bright and matte tones, which is now no longer possible to appreciate.
Thick plaster frames, molded in various planes that show pomades with discreet foliation, frame the pictorial work that Gallotti made in the Postal Palace.
Source: Mexico in Time No. 39 November / December 2000
