One of the most iconic symbols of the Day of the Dead is La Catrina. But she's a modern addition, with her first appearance happening in 1910! At the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.
The Mexican artist and political satirist who created her, Jose Guadalupe Posada, had been using pictures with skeletons to satirize politicians and public figures of the time.
His "La Calavera Catrina" depicted a female skeleton wearing a French hat decorated with ostrich feathers, but no clothes.
His goal was to poke fun at the Mexican president, Porfirio Diaz, who wore European clothes and makeup to make his skin look white, and at Mexico's poor street vendors who tried to deny their indigenous roots and look European by wearing European clothes and selling garbanzo beans instead of their traditional corn.
In 1947, Diego Rivera (Frida Khalo's husband) further popularized La Catrina in his mural “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central,” which depicts himself as a boy, Frida Kahlo, Posada, La Catrina, and hundreds of characters from 400 years of Mexican history. The image is a political commentary on the confrontation between Indigenous people and the new European authorities.
Today, La Catrina is seen in many different forms, including colourful sugar and papier mache skulls for decorations, women and men in Day of the Dead parades, and statues in plazas and store fronts.
1-3 ) There were La Catrinas decorating stores, restaurants, and houses
4, 6, 7) People dressed up us La Catrina throughout the Day of the Dead celebrations.
5) There were all sorts of places where people could get their make-up done
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