México tiene historias que el mundo necesita conocer. La de La Calavera Catrina es una de las más complejas, más reveladoras y, en muchos sentidos, más urgentes de entender. Aquí está el contexto que las noticias rara vez ofrecen.
La historia detrás
La Calavera Catrina (“The Dapper [female] Skull”) is an image and associated character originating as a zinc etching created by the Mexican printmaker and lithographer José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913). The image is usually dated c. 1910–12. Its first certain publication date is 1913, when it appeared in a satiric broadside (a newspaper-sized sheet of paper) as a photo-relief etching. In 1946–47, the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886–1957) elaborated Posada’s creation into a full-scale figure that he placed in his fresco “A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park” (now in the Museo Mural Diego Rivera). Whereas Posada’s print intended to satirize upper class women of the Porfiriato, Rivera, through various iconographic attributes that referenced indigenous cultures, rehabilitated her into a Mexican national symbol. La Catrina is a ubiquitous character associated with Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos), both in Mexico and around the world. Additionally, it has become an
Los protagonistas
Posada’s Rediscovery and the Emergence of Catrina The French-born Mexican artist Jean Charlot played a key role in the rediscovery of Posada, who was little known after his death. The image we know as Catrina appeared in a book for the first time 1930, at which time the title Calavera Catrina was attached to it. In 1944, the Catrina image appeared on the cover of an exhibition catalogue for the Art Institute of Chicago. At this time, Art Institute catalogues (with Catrina on the cover) and individual prints of Catrina were widely distributed in Mexico and the U.S., providing Catrina with high visibility.
Diego Rivera’s Dream of a Sunday Afternoon: Catrina Transformed Diego Rivera’s mural Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central (“Dream of a Sunday afternoon in the Central Alameda”), which stretches 15.6 metres (51 ft) and depicts 400 years of Mexican history from the Spanish Conquest to the Revolution. Rivera included many historical figures in the fresco, which was original
Dato clave: Additionally, for many years, influential Day of the Dead festivities in Mexico City were held at museums that centered on Rivera and Kahlo, where the Linares family made three-dimensional versions of Posada’s prints out of papier mâché.
Lo que los documentales no muestran
Cultural importance Catrina became central to Mexican identity in part because Posada was made into the “primary artistic ancestor figure” for the generation of the Mexican Muralists. Additionally, for many years, influential Day of the Dead festivities in Mexico City were held at museums that centered on Rivera and Kahlo, where the Linares family made three-dimensional versions of Posada’s prints out of papier mâché. Consequently, Posada, Rivera, and Kahlo were woven into foundational urban commemorations in Mexico City. Even without the Mesoamerican attributes Rivera provided to Catrina, she still functions as a national emblem associated specifically with Mexico.
Artistic subtext Culture The Calavera is a well-established tradition in Mexico. Satiric works such as Posada’s Catrina were created during (or in the immediate aftermath) of the polarizing reign of dictator Porfirio Díaz. Díaz is lauded for modernizing and bringing financial stability to Mexico, but he also led his govern
Las consecuencias
Folk art Purist Catrinas are currently fashioned out of two- and three-dimensional materials. These include drawings, prints, paintings, and paper-mâché sculptures, Oaxacan wood carvings, polychromed clay figures, and barro negro black clay pottery. Catrina is often paired with a male dandy skeleton, known as a Catrín. The concept of art is also widely applied in various entertainment forms, including movies, highly exemplified by the film Coco (2017), animated series, video games, and music videos.
Por qué esta historia importa
La historia de La Calavera Catrina no es solo un relato del pasado. Es un espejo que nos ayuda a entender el México de hoy — sus contradicciones, su resiliencia, sus retos y su potencial. Conocerla es un primer paso hacia una conversación más honesta sobre el país y la sociedad que queremos construir.
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