The Catrina

The Catrina or Garbancera Skull (José Guadalupe Posada).

La Catrina, originally called La Calavera Garbancera,1it is a figure created byrJosé Guadalupe Posada
and baptized by the muralithisDiego Rivera.2
Background

La Catrina or The Garbancera Skull (1913).

Origin
The original version is a metal engraving attributed to the caricaturist.José Guadalupe Posada. The name
Calavera Garbancera. "Garbancera" is the word that was used at that time to refer to people who
veIndianchickpeathat having indigenous blood they pretended to be Europeans, whether Spanish or French (this
last most common during elPorfirio Diaz's regime) and they renounced their own race, heritage, and culture.1

Detail of the walllDream of a Sunday afternoon in the Central Alameda. To the left of La Catrina, Diego
Rivera(boy) andFrida Kahlo; to theright, José Guadalupe Posada.
This is notable due to the fact that the skull has no clothes but only the hat; from the point
from Posada's perspective, it is a critique of many poor Mexicans from the village who still want
to project a European lifestyle that does not belong to them.
...in the bones but with a French hat with its ostrich feathers.
WasDiego RiveraWho drew her for the first time dressed in her mural?Dream of a Sunday afternoon in the
Central Alameda, where the skull appears as the companion of its creator, José Guadalupe Posada.
It was also themuralistwho called her 'Catrina', a name that later became popular,
thus turning her into a popular Mexican character.
Current affairs

Image of the CatrinanAguascalientes.

The image of La Catrina is becoming the quintessential Mexican image of death, it is becoming increasingly
It is more common to see it embodied as part of Día de Muertos celebrations throughout the country, it has even
the two-dimensional image has been transformed into a reason for the creation of crafts, whether from clay
and other materials, which can vary slightly in their clothing and even in their
famous hat, but which has also been referred to as 'catrinas'.
Special appreciation is held in the city ofAguascalientesas a cultural and popular image, to the extent that it has
placed a monument at the main entrance to the city, and also, along with the"mountain of the dead" it is the
host and main figure of theSkull Fairheld annually aroundDay of the Dead.
In 2001, La Catrina starred in the animated short film.doTo the bonefrom the directortorRené Castillo. In it, the
a figure appears on the stage of an underworld cabaret, dressed in the attire with which they appear in
the mural by Rivera, interpreting a version ofThe Weeping Womanwith the voice of the singerEugenia León. Al
to finish his number, La Catrina takes a young man who has just died to dance. The couple dances a danzón.
in front of the crowd composed of dozens of skulls of all ages.
In 2010, La Catrina celebrated 100 years since being created by José Guadalupe Posada, which led to a
short film alluding to the centenary of this, called La Catrina on a trajinera. In this one, you can see the
illustrious people of Xochimilco such asJuan Badiano, Fernando Celada Miranda, José Farías Galindo
Francisco Goitiaand toQuirino Mendoza y Cortéspaying tribute to La Catrina for her 100 years on the channels
from Xochimilco. According to the short film, its creators are Sergio Laurel, Gustavo Ríos, León
Francisco Coronado is starred by Paulina Cervantes. This production is based on the
story "La Catrina in Trajinera".
In the Festivities oflBicentennial of the Independence of Mexico, La Catrina was one of the figures that paraded.
through the avenues of Mexico City. Their image was projected onto the facade of theCathedral
Subway.
In 2010 during the national final ofOur Beauty Mexico 2010the winning traditional costume was that of the Catrina,
a striking fuchsia suit, worn by Tiaré Oliva representing the State of Sinaloa. The suit was
presented andnMiss Universe 2011carried by Karin Ontiveros, Our Beauty Mexico 2010, where she was at
point of winning as the best national costume of Miss Universe by coming in second in the
voting from around the world via the internet.
In turn, in 2012, the City Council of Aguascalientes organized, in collaboration with the agency of
photography and editorial Cuartoscuro, the National Photography Contest "Death", within the framework of the 100
years of history of 'La Catrina', which had participation from more than 950 works (including photographic series
and individual works) that had as the winner the Saltillo photographer Jetzabé Antonio Muzquiz Carreón,
being the founder of the Cuartoscuro agency, the photographer Pedro Valtierra, who delivered the award in a
ceremony held in the hidrocálida capital in October of that yearsame year.3
Thevisual artsThey have modified the traditional perspective of the Catrina, a new one is drawn or sculpted.
modeling of this. Divers are usedsosmaterialsand it is creatednparodiesof characters that go the majority of the
times with elfolkloreMexican, according to the vision of the artist-client