La Catrina is a ubiquitous character associated with Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos), both in Mexico and around the world. Additionally, it has become an icon of Mexican identity, sometimes used in opposition to the Halloween Jack-o'-lantern.

Catrina, in full La Calavera Catrina (‘The Dapper Skull’), is a recurring figure in Mexican visual arts depicted as a lively skeleton wearing a large plumed hat associated with early 20th-century upper-class European women’s fashion.

Oct 29, 2023 · Back in Mexico she’d been virtually unknown, but the U.S. exhibition made La Catrina an international sensation. Today, La Catrina is Posada’s most recognizable creation.

Her name is La Catrina and the essence of her story goes deep into Mexican traditions and roots but has been restyled only in the last century. It is believed that the Aztecs worshipped a goddess of death that they alleged protected their departed loved ones, helping them into the next stages.

Oct 25, 2011 · But La Catrina is the beloved grand dame of Mexico's dance with death 365 days a year, appearing in at least two movies, graduating from drawings to sculpture, and taking on such roles...

Nov 2, 2023 · La Catrina transcended art and became a vibrant manifestation of Mexican culture. Affectionately known as la flaca (skinny), she no longer wears European finery, but adorns herself instead in...

Oct 17, 2024 · One of the most enduring symbols of the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) in Mexico is the Calavera Catrina, or simply "La Catrina". Her skeletal face has become synonymous with Mexico's celebration of life and death, adorned with an elegant dress and an ornate hat.

Oct 24, 2023 · Mexican Americans utilized La Catrina in their murals, paintings and political posters as part of the Chicano Movement, which pushed for Mexican American civil rights in the 1960s and 1970s.

La Catrina was originally created in 1910 by José Guadalupe Posada as part of a satirical lithograph. Known as La Calavera Garbancera, she was a critique of Mexico’s elite society, mocking those who rejected their indigenous heritage in favor of European customs.

One of Posada’s most iconic calavera image is his catrina (catrin, elegant or dandy), a female figure wearing a fancy hat with flowers and feathers that nod to both the Mexican elite and European fashions.