This stunning portrait demands the viewer's attention.  On the one hand, the figure is passive, gazing at us almost without expression, completely still, acceptant of the scattered nails and rigid column that penetrate her body.  On the other hand, the beauty of her perfectly formed breasts and well-formed upper body, the eyes that engage the viewer, subtly convey the energy of the figure's spirit and will.  At this point in Kahlo's life, the painful physical problems that had plagued her on and off for years were becoming unrelenting.  Doctors prescribed a variety of orthopedic corsets to support her degenerating spine.  The portrait seems to personify pain and simultaneously some level of tolerance for pain.

Many who view the painting are reminded of images of Christ on the cross.  Kahlo was certainly long-suffering and represented the physical and emotional aspects of her condition in many of her works (see annotations of "Tree of Hope" and "Henry Ford Hospital"), but the energy and originality of her personality and artistic vision shine through.  For interesting commentary on "The Broken Column," see Hayden Herrera. Frida Kahlo: The Paintings (New York: HarperPerennial) 2002, pp. 180-183.  Also useful is Gannit Ankori's commentary in her book, Imaging Her Selves: Frida Kahlo's Poetics of Identity and Fragmentation (Westport, Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press, 2002, pp. 114-119).  Ankori points out that the vertical fissure of Kahlo's body and the fissures in the earth surrounding her, evoke violation -- consistent with the catastrophic accident that Kahlo suffered at age 18, and its lifelong consequences