Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace

Painted by Frida Kahlo in 1940 in the aftermath of her divorce from Diego Rivera, this self-portrait concentrates her private grief in a precise personal iconography. A thorn necklace encircles her throat, drawing fresh drops of blood, while a black hummingbird — Rivera's emblem in Mexican folk tradition — hangs lifeless from the thorns. A monkey on one shoulder offers companionship, a black cat on the other broods behind her, and the dense foliage and white butterflies set her pain against imagery of renewal. It is one of the most emblematic of Kahlo's self-portraits and a defining image of her painting.