Калера Катрина: Тарихы мен мәдени маңызы

1910–1913 etching by Mexican cartoon illustrator Posada

La Calavera Catrina ("The Dapper [female] Skull") had its origin 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.

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 yards, depicts 400 years of Mexican history from the Spanish Conquest to the Revolution. Rivera included many historical figures in the fresco, which was originally painted for the Hotel del Prado in the historic center of Mexico City. When the 1985 earthquake required the destruction of the hotel, the fresco was moved to the Museo Mural Diego Rivera, which is adjacent to the Alameda Park. The museum was built specifically to house and display Rivera's restored mural. Rivera placed Posada (dressed in a black suit) and Catrina in the center of his fresco. Rivera depicted himself as a boy who holds Catrina's hand. Frida Kahlo stands behind and between them. Rivera keeps the big bourgeoise hat that Posada gave to Catrina. But instead of outfitting her with a matching bourgeois gown, he puts her in a simple Tehuana skirt, similar to those Kahlo wore, which were associated with indigenous women from Tehuantepec. The feather rattlesnake boa that Catrina wears links her to the Mesoamerican god Quetzalcoatl (the feathered serpent), and its stone rattle connects it to the Aztec goddess Coatlicue ("She of the Serpent Skirt"). Like snakes and Coatlicue, Rivera's Catrina has fangs and a bloody mouth. The gold belt buckle has an ollin glyph, which symbolizes movement (and the earthquakes the Aztecs thought would end their era). Eyes are visible behind the skull mask, which arguably makes Rivera's Catrina a life and death figure. Cordova argues that Rivera made Catrina into a nationalist emblem that referenced indigenous cultures and the philosophy of dualism. Some artists have made a variety of Catrina figures over the years, such as the Albuquerque based artist Brandon Maldonado (b. 1980). His Catrinas include La Catrina de la Noche, 2003, an op art influenced ink on paper drawing, The Carriage, an oil painting from 2010 with Catrina riding in a traditional coach driven by a Catrín, and a satiric ink drawing called Gringo Souvenir of 2012. La Calavera Catrina, from 2018 (oil and gold leaf on panel) combines influences from traditional New Mexican religious statues and cubism with papel picado (cut paper) patterns. Maldonado's The Portrait of Doña Catrina (2019) is a reworking of a famous oil painting by Goya. His painting Cake Lady. (20 years of Muertos anniversary piece), 2021, humorously transforms a traditional dress into a cake. In an untitled Catrina Altar installed at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles in 2022, Maldonado transforms Catrina into a sculptural "death saint" that mourns victims of school shootings: Columbine (1999), Virginia Tech (2007), Sandy Hook (2012), Parkland (2018), and Uvalde (2022).

"Catrin" and "Catrina" have become popular costumes during Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico and elsewhere. They typically feature calavera (skull) make up. The male counterpart to the Catrina, wears the same skull makeup and black clothes, often a formal suit with a top hat or a mariachi costume. A cane might also be part of the costume. Catrinas can be dressed in black, white, or bright colors.