‘La Muerte Niña’: Why do Mexican families keep pictures of their deceased children?

At archetypal glance, it’s hard to debar a feeling of rejection by the images. There’s thing astir the staging, the freshly chopped flowers, the grief of the mothers (surely younger than I am) cradling their lifeless babies.

However, aft speechmaking the 15th variation of “Artes de México” (1992), a effect of compassion sprouts. While these are undeniably posed images — taking a photograph successful the 19th period was an lawsuit successful itself — the people of mourning is indelible.

“The decease of a young kid was not a origin for sorrow,” wrote researcher Brigas Cramer, “but alternatively a solemnisation of a festive commencement into different life.” (oakenroad/Wikimedia Commons)

Although the babies’ bodies — truthful tiny, truthful fragile — are surrounded by flowers and dressed successful festive clothing, the faces of their families archer a antithetic story. The question, however, is legitimate: what would pb a household to photograph their newborn babies, truthful precocious deceased? This is however the La Muerte Niña ritual was experienced successful Mexico.

A misunderstood farewell ritual

Unlike today, the decease of a young kid was not a origin for mourning for 19th-century Mexican families. On the contrary, according to the probe of anthropologist Sara Bringas Cramer, “newly deceased children were considered ‘little angels’ and, therefore, were celebrated, not mourned.”

According to Brigas Cramer, babe mortality successful the 19th period reached up to 30% successful Mexico. Specifically, among children aged 0 to 5, deaths were attributed to “smallpox, diarrhea, fever and pneumonia,” per her nonfiction in Arqueología Mexicana. Therefore, it was communal for families to privation to support a memento of their precocious departed “little angel.”

“In galore photographs of dormant children, it is communal to spot them dressed successful white, wearing christening gowns oregon a saint’s outfit,” she wrote. The similarity betwixt the ropones — a accepted babe gown successful Mexico — utilized to formal the Baby Jesus successful the Bajío portion and those utilized for deceased children is striking.

La Muerte Niña

And this is nary coincidence. On the contrary, the headdresses, floral arrangements and gowns sewn with golden thread were intended arsenic festive attire. According to the belief, explains writer Alberto Ruy Sánchez Lacy, these babies shed their earthly garments to become, literally, cherubs.

The full municipality participated successful the event. They brought flowers, food, fragrant herbs, blankets for the body: thing that would lend to the country of the child-turned-angel. Since children were “without sin” astatine the clip of death, Sánchez Lacy explains, they instantly became angels. Therefore, “Child Death is that which is seen and experienced with joyousness … it is not death, but a festive commencement into different life.” 

For the La Muerte Niña ritual successful Mexico, these babies shed their earthly garments to go “little angels.” (INAH)

This corporate effort crystallizes successful an instant: the infinitesimal the lensman presses the shutter and takes a picture. This full ritual of funerary mentation was known arsenic La Muerte Niña: the definitive rite of transition dedicated to babies transformed into “little angels.”

Free from guilt and misdeed — an unusual Mexican aesthetic

The custom, however, did not statesman successful 19th-century Mexico. On the contrary, according to creation historiographer Gutierre Aceves, traces of the signifier tin beryllium recovered dating backmost to the assemblage epoch successful New Spain. These lipid paintings depicted children arsenic if they were asleep, but dressed successful garments befitting the highest-ranking officials successful the heavenly hosts.

It seems that the signifier of portraying dormant radical is not caller successful Mexico. A akin signifier was communal among Catholic nuns, who commissioned portraits of women who dedicated themselves to the work of the Church. They are called “crowned nuns” precisely due to the fact that of the headdresses made with autochthonal flowers, which often grew successful convent gardens.

The angiosperm crowns were a nonstop defiance of death: aft a beingness of cloistered conventual purity, the nuns had conquered decease and been resurrected successful paradise. This customized dispersed from spiritual contexts and migrated to affluent families who, adjacent then, commissioned lipid paintings of their deceased sons and daughters. Sometimes, Aceves explains, they adjacent asked representation artists to picture them arsenic they would person looked years aboriginal — astatine 6 oregon 7 years aged — had decease not intervened.

Mourning mothers

Given each of the above, it is not astonishing that, with the instauration of photography into mundane Mexican life, grieving families wanted to replicate this centuries-old customized successful a antithetic format. Families wanted to springiness their deceased babies a consciousness of permanence. By creating an imaginary plot astir the body, they were alluding to rebirth successful eternal life.

The work contains a peculiarly heartbreaking photograph. A parent holds her babe successful a precise long, achromatic robe that astir resembles a shroud. The examination is unavoidable: it is arsenic if she were Mary holding Jesus aft his sacrifice. The parent is bidding farewell to her child.

Paintings of children, possibly astatine a much precocious property than they were astatine the clip of their passing, were besides traditional. (Museo Nacional de Arte)

And arsenic is often the lawsuit successful funerary contexts, the ritual wasn’t really for the precocious deceased babies. Images similar this amusement that, perhaps, it was much for the mothers who, aft months of gestation, welcomed their daughters and sons lone to bid them farewell prematurely.

Andrea Fischer contributes to the features table astatine Mexico News Daily. She has edited and written for National Geographic en Español and Muy Interesante México, and continues to beryllium an advocator for thing that screams science. Or yoga. Or both.