Who would have thought that when the artist José Guadalupe Posada created an etching of a skull wearing an extravagant, European-style wide-brimmed hat, it would become such an iconic symbol in Mexican culture? La Calavera Catrina (The Dapper Female Skull), a name coined much later in the 20th century, was etched around 1912 and made several appearances in broadsheets (2-page large format newspapers popular at the time) after Posada’s passing. Each appearance, typically referred to as ‘calavera’, meaning skeleton or skull, was accompanied by satirical text covering current social and political topics. It was also used to humorously depict the Mexican upper class’ imitation of European fashion and lifestyle, hence the enormous European-style hat that was in fashion in the early 1910s.
In 1930, a monograph publication containing more than 400 of Posada’s engravings was released, where the term “La Calavera Catrina” is believed to have been first officially used. Diego Rivera, a renowned Mexican artist, provided the foreword to the publication. Inspired by the etching, Rivera incorporated La Catrina into his 1947 artwork “A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park”. This 50ft (15m) mural depicting 400 years of Mexican history has La Catrina centre stage, Posada to the right, a young Rivera to the left and Rivera’s wife –the most famous female Mexican artist – Frida Kahlo, slightly behind.
It is in this mural that La Catrina is, for the first time, created with a full body. She is elegantly dressed in a long white gown adorned with a feather boa and her trademark wide-brimmed hat. Rivera added elements that referred to Mexican indigenous cultures and transformed La Catrina from a satirical figure into a symbol of Mexican heritage.
La Catrina is widely associated with Día de Los Muertos, representing the idea that death is an inevitable part of life and that all people, regardless of their social or economic status, will eventually meet death. It is a reminder of the equality of death and the importance of embracing one's mortality.
These days, La Catrina is sometimes referred to as the Grand Dame of Death, but she was not the first lady of death. That honour belongs to Mictēcacihuātl, the goddess of death, who is believed to be the guardian watching over the bones of the dead and governing the festivals of the dead. In Aztec mythology, Mictēcacihuātl ruled the underworld Mictlán with her husband, Mictlāntēcuhtli. With traditional images appearing less in festivities and La Catrina rising in fame, she may become the modern embodiment of Mictēcacihuātl.
La Catrina is a fascinating figure whose evolution goes further back than Posada’s etching when calaveras were part of Aztec traditions. They were also found in European murals as early as the 15th century, called Danse Macabre (French for Dance of Death). This shows people’s fascination with skeletal figures and the concept of death. With similarities between the Aztec and European cultures regarding death and honouring the deceased souls, it was inevitable that there would be a gradual melding between holiday observations and the symbol of calaveras over time.
Today, it's common to see people emulating La Catrina by dressing up and painting their faces to resemble skulls.
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