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La Calavera Catrina ('Dapper Skeleton', 'Elegant Skull') is a 1910–1913 zinc etching by famous Mexican printmaker, cartoon illustrator and lithographer José Guadalupe Posada. The image depicts a female skeleton dressed only in a hat befitting the upper class outfit of a European of her time. Her chapeau en attende is related to French and European styles of the early 20th century. She is offered as a satirical portrait of those Mexican natives who, Posada felt, were aspiring to adopt European aristocratic traditions in the pre-revolutionary era. She in particular has become an icon of the Mexican Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

 

 

Originally called La Calavera Garbancera, the etching was created sometime between 1910 and 1913 by José Guadalupe Posada as a broadside. The work's fame however comes from its appearance in the first posthumous edition, which was published from the original plates in 1930 by Frances Toor, Blas Vanegas Arroyo and Pablo O'Higgins, entitled Mongrafia: Las Obras de José Guadalupe Posada, Grabador Mexicano. Calavera Catrina (Dapper Skeleton)

 

<<1. This image can be found on plate 21 of Posada's Popular Mexican Prints.

 

The image made from zinc etching captures the famous calaveras or skull/skeleton image that had become popular at the turn of the 20th century. The original leaflet describes a person who was ashamed of his Indian origins and dressed imitating the French style while wearing lots of makeup to make his skin look whiter.

 

This description also ties to the original name garbancera, which became a nickname given to people of indigenous ancestry who imitated European style and denied their own cultural heritage.