Eduviges Dyada Funeral

Eduviges color palette: shades of wine, ocher and sand tones

Eduviges, an essential character in Juan Preciado's search for his father.

It is she, her spirit, who advises and shelters him at her inn when he arrives in Comala, and who from that moment introduces him—and us—to that spectral world where the living and the dead, past and present, coexist.

In the scene of her funeral, the mourners wear strict mourning attire, with long jaspe shawls that cover them entirely like crow's wings—all except the deceased and her sister María, who stand apart from the darkness. For Eduviges, only in this scene, we chose ivory, so that she would shine, projecting a ray of peace: a raw silk shirt with pin tucks and a skirt made from fabric woven on a backstrap loom. For her sister, we chose ocher tones, more neutral. This decision reflects the rejection by the town priest, Father Rentería, who refuses to allow the body to be waked in the church, to grant her absolution, or to celebrate the funeral Mass. Eduviges died by suicide, which the Catholic Church severely condemned.

The shawl that María wears is no longer produced today, not in the length customary in that era, but we could find a shawl maker willing to accept the challenge of making one.

In the photograph, the rug and tablecloth where Eduviges's body rests were woven on a colonial loom, and the wooden candelabras, lamps, clay pitchers, and chairs all date from the early twentieth century.