The Lady of the Dead is known as La Catrina or Katrina in her home county. She is the most famous of the Calacas -Skeletons which are originating from Mexico. She is getting more and more common in other countries around the world especial in Latin America and the southern US
The word Catrin in its female form Catrina has in some Mexican-Spanish dialects the meaning of elegant or fashionable, coming from the verb camer -to flatter, to woo.
The Catrina is the widely known Lady of the Death. She somehow became a symbolic figure of Mexico, and a symbol Mexican art since she first appeared 1913 in Jose Guadalupe Posada's zinc etchings "La Catrina" -The Elegant Skull. La Catrina was part of a series of Calacas, humorous images of contemporary figures depicted as skeletons. La Catrina is often incorporated in the celebrations of La Noche de Brujas -Night of the Witches, our Halloween Eve and in the celebrations of the Day of the Death on November 1 and 2, which are corresponding with the Catholic All Saints and All Souls.
The image of La Catrina was made farther famous by Diego Rivera, who incorporated her as center figure in his mural Sueno de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central -Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Central Park.