La Catrina

Catrina, a recurring motif in Mexican visual arts, is portrayed as an animated skeleton adorned with a grand feathered hat reminiscent of the fashion of the early 20th century among the upper echelons of European women.

La Catrina

The character, known as La Calavera Catrina (“The Dapper Skull” or “The Dapper Skeleton” in full), was crafted by Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada in the early 1900s and quickly rose to prominence in Mexico, thanks to its widespread appeal among artists like Mexican muralist Diego Rivera and its inclusion in a traveling art exhibition during World War II.

The character that eventually became known as Catrina was among the numerous animated skulls or skeletons that Posada crafted during his tenure as an illustrator (1890–1913) for the publisher Antonio Vanegas Arroyo. These skeletons represented people from all walks of life and jobs, which experts believe symbolized a dark form of equality, indicating that death was universal, regardless of one's social standing. The initial record of Posada's illustration of a grinning skeleton wearing a large hat came several months after his passing. The character was identified as a garbancera, or a female garbanzo bean vendor, in a 1913 broadside, a single-sided piece of paper historically utilized for disseminating information, including news, governmental decisions, entertainment happenings, and opinions. The accompanying text ridiculed the garbanceras, who were seen working in Mexico City, accusing them of betraying their social class and heritage by adopting European styles and selling a Spanish import. Posada was not involved in the text, and Arroyo often repurposed the illustrations, leading to the image acquiring additional interpretations as it was reprinted with various texts. A broadside from the 1920s used the skull to criticize cucarachas, which in this context referred to women who accompanied army camps during the Mexican Revolution.

Day of the Dead

Posada's artwork was not signed and intended to be read and thrown away. As a result, the creator remained anonymous throughout his life. His pieces gained recognition after being rediscovered by the French American artist Jean Charlot, who then introduced them to Rivera. In 1930, Rivera collaborated with author Frances Toor on a book featuring Posada's prints. In this edition, the skull with a calavera on a fancy European hat is referred to as “Catrina,” a play on the slang term catrin, which roughly translates to “dandy.” Therefore, the depiction of the skull in the book symbolized the Mexican upper class's rejection of the country's Indigenous heritage. Catrina emerged as a satirical political icon linked to Indigenismo, a movement after the Revolution that aimed to foster a national identity that connected Mexicans to Indigenous cultures rather than European ones.

Catrina remained a relatively minor figure, however, until a 1944 traveling exhibition organized by the Art Institute of Chicago. The government of Mexico used the graphic for the cover of the exhibition catalog and promotional materials. She was further popularized when Rivera portrayed her at the center of his mural Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central (1947; Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Central Park). In Sueño Catrina is depicted as a full-length figure. She wears the elaborate hat and grins broadly as in Posada’s original print, but Rivera added a seemingly European white dress with lace cuffs and a plumed boa that recalls the ancient feathered serpent god Quetzalcóatl. She holds the arm of Posada, who is dressed in a suit and bowler hat with a cane, and the hand of Rivera, depicted as a child. His wife, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, stands behind him, one hand on his shoulder and the other holding a yin and yang object. The quartet is surrounded by hundreds of figures depicting 400 years of Mexican history and the nation’s complex legacy of European and Indigenous heritage. Rivera thus transformed Catrina into a central symbol of the duality of Mexican history, religion, and life and death itself.

Through Rivera’s interpretation, Catrina has become a national symbol of modern Mexico. Her unmistakable visage and hat are reproduced in various forms at Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations on November 1 and 2. Altars to the deceased often feature figurines of Catrina, while individuals paint their faces and wear elaborate costumes to emulate the calavera. Her status in the festival, a combination of Aztec celebrations of death and the Roman Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, has thus continued her association with the dual heritage of Mexican identity.

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