José Guadalupe Posada and his calaveras

José Guadalupe Posada (1852–1913) was a Mexican cartoonist illustrator and artist whose work has influenced many Latin American artists and cartoonists because of its satirical acuteness and political engagement. Posada's best known works are his calaveras, which often assume various costumes, such as the Calavera de la Catrina, the "Calavera of the Female Dandy", which was meant to satirize the life of the upper classes during the reign of Porfirio Díaz. Most of his imagery was meant to make a religious or satirical point. Since his death, however, his images have become associated with the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, the "Day of the Dead". Largely forgotten by the end of his life, Posada's engravings were brought to a wider audience in the 1920s by the French artist Jean Charlot, who encountered them while visiting Diego Rivera. While Posada died in poverty, his images are well known today as examples of folk art. The muralist José Clemente Orozco knew Posada when he was young, and credited Posada's work as an influence on his own.

La Calavera Catrina

La Calavera Catrina ('The Elegant Skull') is a 1910 zinc etching by Posada. The etching was part of his series of calaveras, which were humorous images of contemporary figures depicted as skeletons, which often were accompanied by a poem. Popularized by José Guadalupe Posada, this Catrina is the skeleton of an upper class woman, and one of the most popular figures of the Day of the Dead celebrations.

Apocalyptic Raids 1990 A.D., the re-issue of Hellhammer's original Apocalyptic Raids EP (1984) has as new cover a 1910 Posada's etching.

Memento mori - La Calavera Catrina

Engraving of memento mori, Alexander Mair, 1605

«Θυμήσου ότι θα πεθάνεις!» είναι το μήνυμα πολλών έργων τέχνης του Μεσαίωνα και της Αναγέννησης που μαζί με τα Danse macabre υπενθυμίζουν την φθαρτότητα της ζωής μας και κατά συνέπεια την τύχη που μας περιμένει στον άλλο κόσμο αν δεν είμαστε ενάρετοι και καλοί χριστιανοί.

"The ossuary" by Hieronymus Hess (1799-1850)

Οι αναπαραστάσεις του memento mori άλλοτε μοιάζουν με τα Danse macabre, άλλοτε είναι μόνο σκελετοί, ή αποτελούν απλώς ένα κρανίο δίπλα σε μια προσωπογραφία συνήθως κάποιου ευγενή, άλλοτε είναι και σκελετοί ντυμένοι με ακριβή ενδυμασία.

Hans Holbein the Younger “The Ambassadors” (1533)

Ένα από τα πιο γνωστά είναι και ο πίνακας του Hans Holbein the Younger “The Ambassadors” (1533) στον οποίο κάτω από τους δύο ευγενείς βρίσκεται ένα παραμορφωμένο κρανίο με την τεχνική της Αναμόρφωσης, το οποίο φαίνεται κανονικά μόνο από θέαση του πίνακα υπό πολύ μικρή γωνία σε σχέση με το επίπεδό του (στην οθόνη του πισί πάτε στα δεξιά και δείτε το από πολύ πλάγια).

La Calavera Catrina

Παρόμοιας θεματολογίας και σκοπού είναι και το έργο του José Guadalupe Posada «La Calavera Catrina» του 1913 το μοτίβο του οποίου πέρασε στην Μεξικάνικη κουλτούρα και αναπαράγεται σε διάφορες σχετικές μορφές την περίφημη Μέρα των Νεκρών με το ίδιο ακριβώς σκεπτικό: Ολοι οι πλούσιοι και μοδάτοι, παρόλη την προσποίησή τους ότι είναι μεγάλοι και τρανοί, στην πραγματικότητα είναι ίσοι μπροστά στο θάνατο με όλους.

Bern Cathedral Switzerland "Triumph of Death"

“Remember you shall die” is the message of many artworks of the Medieval Age and Renaissance. Along with the Danse Macabre, remind the mortality and our fate in after death world if we don’t follow God’s Will and if we are not good Christians.

"Youth with a Skull" Frans Hals (1580–1666)

Memento mori drawings are similar to Danse macabre, or they are a single skull beside a prince, or King, or they are skeletons in rich clothing. The most famous is the Hans Holbein the Younger “The Ambassadors” (1533) where the skull is depicted with the Anamorphosis technique of distortion: you can see this skull in your pc in its normal shape if you look at it at a very small angle to the level of the painting from the right.

"Memento mori" in Skibby Church Denmark

Of similar intention was the etching «La Calavera Catrina» ( 1913) by José Guadalupe Posada. That theme was later adopted to Mexican culture as an important symbol in their Day of the Dead celebration: it shows that the rich and fashionable, despite their pretensions to importance, are just as susceptible to death as anyone else.

Catrinas in Day of the Dead, Mexico