La Catrina is an elegantly attired female skeleton recognized as an iconic symbol of Mexico’s Día de los Muertos festivities.
She is a derivation of La Calavera Garbancera (Chickpea Skull), an image created by Mexican Illustrator José Guadalupe Posada as part of his series of lithographs that addressed political and societal issues before the 1910 outbreak of the Mexican Revolution.
The artist used skeletons in his engravings that were published for the masses in the Mexican press to portray and satirize Mexican society of the era.
The term garbancera referred to garbanzo street vendors who powdered their ruddy faces and donned fancy hats, representing the Mexicanos who renounced their indigenous roots by adopting European lifestyles and fashions.
Posada’s skeleton figures symbolize the democracy of death. Regardless of social or economic standing, everyone eventually ends up reduced to bare bones.
At that time, La Calavera Garbancera was not specifically associated with Day of the Dead, but was linked to political commentary. Not until 1947 did a full-size representation of the figure emerge as La Catrina in the now-famous Diego Rivera mural titled “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park.”
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