Guadalajara

Hidalgo Government Palace, Guadalajara

Painted by José Clements Orozco between 1936-1939 in the Government Palace, this portrait of Miguel Hidalgo, who initiated the independence of Mexico and in this same building abolished slavery in 1810.

Two influential people in one card, Hidalgo, who fought for Mexican freedom and, Orozo, one of the leaders of the Mexican Muralists.  Orozo was a politically committed artist and his bold murals established the Mexican Mural Renaissance. His art can be seen in both Mexico and the USA. My sender, Ramón, says the Orozo is one of the greatest muralists in Mexico's history and he thinks this mural is amazing.  I'm trying to imagine what it must look like full size, I've seen a photograph in its location and it looks huge.

The card came with

a postage label. which I am not keen on, prefering stamps, but I think it is interesting for two reasons.  One, I like the pigeon logo by Gonzalo Tassier, first used in June 2009, which replaced the head of an eagle symbol of the Correos de Mexico.  The computerised system in Mexico is called the "Sistema Integral de Operatión" (SIO), the history and a few pictures of post offices here.

The other reason is that as can be seen the label was affixed on 18 November 2010, then it must have nestled down into a postage bag until the postal weight exchange between Mexico and the UK took place when it was stamped with the date 24 March 2011 as it left Guadalajara. It plopped through my letter box having taken 222 days from when Ramón posted it, but worth the wait.

Thank you Ramón, an amazingly dramatic card.