Alberto J. Pani, a graduate from the National Engineering School, was an important character in Mexico’s economic and political life. He fought against the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz and, when Madero triumphed,
became Undersecretary of Public Instruction in the new revolutionary government. He would later occupy the posts of Director of Public Works of the Federal District, First Secretary of Industry, Commerce, and Labor,
Secretary of External Affairs, Secretary of Finance, Minister in France, and Ambassador to Spain. He promoted the termination of works on the Fine Arts Palace and the conversion of the Legislative Palace into the
Monument to the Revolution.
Pani was an art lover and assembled a remarkable collection of paintings, including portraits of his wife and himself by Diego Rivera, an artist Pani would admire deeply. His
intervention was important in convincing José Vasconcelos, the rector of the University of Mexico at the time, to finance Rivera’s stay in Italy in 1920. Years later, Pani would commission Diego to paint four panels
for the main dining room of Hotel Reforma.
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