Frida Kahlo in Her Sitting Room

Silberstein was struck by the presence of two large papier maché Judas figures in Casa Azul; one in the sitting room, pictured here opposite Kahlo, and the other arranged on top of her canopy bed. The figures are part of traditional Easter Saturday celebrations in some Mexican communities, paraded or displayed in public squares and often dramatically ignited with fireworks. Diego Rivera portrayed the ritual in his public mural The Burning of the Judases (1923–24). Kahlo also incorporated the figure in her artwork; in The Wounded Table (1940), a Judas figure dressed similarly to the one photographed here looms behind a self-portrait of Kahlo.