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A caryatid ( ; ; ) Καρυᾶτις in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek language term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyes", an ancient town on the Peloponnese. Karyai had a temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis in her aspect of Artemis Karyatis: "As Caryatis she rejoiced in the dances of the nut-tree village of Karyai, those Karyatides, who in their ecstatic round-dance carried on their heads baskets of live reeds, as if they were dancing plants".(Kerenyi 1980 p 149)
An atlas or atlantid or telamon is a male version of a caryatid, i.e., a sculpted male statue serving as an architectural support.
The ancient Caryae supposedly was one of the six adjacent villages that united to form the original township of Sparta, and the hometown of Menelaos' queen, Helen of Troy. Girls from Caryae were considered especially beautiful, strong, and capable of giving birth to strong children.
A caryatid supporting a basket on her head is called a Kanephoros ("basket-bearer"), representing one of the maidens who carried sacred objects used at feasts of the goddesses Athena and Artemis. The Erectheion caryatids, in a shrine dedicated to an archaic king of Athens, may therefore represent priestesses of Artemis in Caryae, a place named for the "nut-tree sisterhood" – apparently in Mycenaean Greece times, like other plural feminine , such as Hyrai or Athens itself.
The later male counterpart of the caryatid is referred to as a telamon (plural telamones) or atlas (plural atlantes) – the name refers to the legend of Atlas, who bore the sphere of the heavens on his shoulders. Such figures were used on a monumental scale, notably in the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigento, Sicily.
The best-known and most-copied examples are those of the six figures of the Caryatid porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis at Athens. One of those original six figures, removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century in an act which severely damaged the temple and is widely considered to be vandalism and looting, is currently in the British Museum in London. The Greek government does not recognise the British Museum's claims to own any part of the Acropolis temples and the return of the stolen Caryatid to Athens along with the rest of the so-called Elgin Marbles is the subject of a major international campaign. The Acropolis Museum holds the other five figures, which are replaced onsite by replicas. The five originals that are in Athens are now being exhibited in the new Acropolis Museum, on a special balcony that allows visitors to view them from all sides. The pedestal for the caryatid removed to London remains empty, awaiting its return. From 2011 to 2015, they were cleaned by a specially constructed laser beam, which removed accumulated soot and grime without harming the marble's patina. Each caryatid was cleaned in place, with a television circuit relaying the spectacle live to museum visitors.
Although of the same height and build, and similarly attired and coiffed, the six Caryatids are not the same: their faces, stance, draping, and hair are carved separately; the three on the left stand on their right foot, while the three on the right stand on their left foot. Their bulky, intricately arranged hairstyles serve the crucial purpose of providing static support to their necks, which would otherwise be the thinnest and structurally weakest part.
The Ancient Rome also copied the Erechtheion caryatids, installing copies in the Forum of Augustus and the Pantheon in Rome, and at Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli. Another Roman example, found on the Via Appia, is the Townley Caryatid.A. H. Smith, "Gavin Hamilton's Letters to Charles Townley" The Journal of Hellenic Studies 21 (1901: 306–321) p. 306 note 3. Townley inventories, where it is interpolated between No. 9 (Hecate) and No. 10 (Fortune).
In the 16th century, from the examples engraved for Sebastiano Serlio's treatise on architecture, caryatids became a fixture in the decorative vocabulary of Northern Mannerism expressed by the Fontainebleau School and the engravers of designs in Antwerp. In the early 17th century, interior examples appear in Jacobean interiors in England; in Scotland the overmantel in the great hall of Muchalls Castle remains an early example. Caryatids remained part of the German Baroque vocabulary and were refashioned in more restrained and "Grecian" forms by neoclassicism architects and designers, such as the four terracotta caryatids on the porch of St Pancras New Church, London (1822).
Many caryatids lined up on the facade of the 1893 Palace of the Arts housing the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. In the arts of design, the draped figure supporting an acanthus-grown basket capital taking the form of a candlestick or a table-support is a familiar cliché of neoclassical decorative arts. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota has caryatids as a motif on its eastern facade.
In 1905 American sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens created a caryatid porch for the Albright–Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York in which four of the eight figures (the other four figures holding only wreaths) represented a different art form, Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, and Music.
Auguste Rodin's 1881 sculpture Fallen Caryatid Carrying her Stone (part of his monumental The Gates of Hell work) shows a fallen caryatid. Robert Heinlein described this piece in Stranger in a Strange Land: "Now here we have another emotional symbol ... for almost three thousand years or longer, architects have designed buildings with columns shaped as female figures ... After all those centuries it took Rodin to see that this was work too heavy for a girl ... Here is this poor little caryatid who has tried—and failed, fallen under the load. ... She didn't give up, Ben; she's still trying to lift that stone after it has crushed her".
In Act 2 of his 1953 play Waiting for Godot, author Samuel Beckett has Estragon say "We are not caryatids!" when he and Vladimir tire of "cart(ing) around" the recently blinded Pozzo.
Agnes Varda made two short films documenting Caryatid columns around Paris.
The musical group Son Volt evoke the caryatides and their burden borne in poetic metaphor on the song "Caryatid Easy" from their 1997 album Straightaways, with singer Jay Farrar reproving an unidentified lover with the line "you play the caryatid easy".
File:Bronze mirror, 5th c BC, AM of Corinth, 202831.jpg|Ancient Greek mirror, 5th century BC, bronze, Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth, Corinth, Greece
Athen Erechtheion BW 2017-10-09 13-58-34.jpg|Ancient Greek caryatids of the Erechtheion, Greece, unknown architect, 421-405 BC (2025). 9781529420302, Laurence King. ISBN 9781529420302
Caryatid_from_the_Sanctuary_of_Demeter_at_Eleusis_(2)._1st_century_B.C.jpg|Roman caryatid from the Sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis, second half of 1st century BC, probably marble, Archaeological Museum of Eleusis, Elefsina, Greece
Las Incantadas (Louvre) 3.jpg|Las Incantadas, a group of Roman sculptures from a portico that once adorned the Roman Forum of Thessaloniki, 150-230 AD, marble, Louvre
File:Townley Caryatid - British Museum - Joy of Museums.jpg| Townley Caryatid, 161-171, Pentelic marble, British Museum, London (2025). 9788842094173, Laterza. ISBN 9788842094173
File:Paris 1er Louvre Naples à Paris Cassetta Farnese 039.jpg|Renaissance art caryatids on the Cassetta Farnese, by Manno Sbarri, Giovanni Bernardi and Perin del Vaga, 1548-1561, gilded silver, embossed and chiselled rock crystal, Vitreous enamel and lapis lazuli, Louvre
Paris Palais du Louvre Salle des Caryatides tribune 20161031.jpg|Renaissance caryatids of the musicians' loft in the Louvre Palace, Paris, by Jean Goujon, 1550 (2025). 9782757201770, Musée du Louvre Éditions. ISBN 9782757201770
Facade Pavillon Horloge Louvre.jpg|Baroque caryatids on the upper part of the Pavillon de l'Horloge on the Cour Carrée of the Louvre Palace, by Gilles Guérin and Philippe De Buyster after Jacques Sarazin, mid-17th century (2025). 9782757201770, Musée du Louvre Éditions. ISBN 9782757201770
Antichambre du prince-évêque (Palais Rohan, Strasbourg) cabinet.JPG|Baroque caryatids of a cabinet, 1675, ebony, kingwood, marquetry of hard stones, gilt bronze, pewter, glass, tinted mirror and horn, Museum of Decorative Art, Strasbourg, France
File:Apollo and Attendants Flaying Marsyas (tapestry).jpg|Baroque caryatids in the Apollo and Attendants Flaying Marsyas tapestry, 17th century, wool and silk, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, US
File:P1030075 (5015797888).jpg|Louis XVI style jewelry locket of Marie-Antoinette, by Ferdinand Schwerdfeger, 1787, mahogany, mother-of-pearl inlays, paintings under glass, porcelain plate, and gilded bronzes, Chambre de la Reine, Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France
Pair of caryatids MET SF07 225 510 317ab.jpg|Pair of Louis XVI style caryatid, 18th century, ormolu, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
File:Vase Medicis (Louvre, OA 9590).jpg|Louis XVI style caryatids on the Médicis Vase, by Louis-Simon Boizot, Pierre Philippe-Thomire and the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, 1787, porcelain and gilded bronze, Louvre
File:Wien-Innere Stadt - Josefsplatz 5 - Portal des Palais Pallavicini.jpg|Neoclassical caryatids of the portal of the Palais Pallavicini in Josefsplatz, Vienna, Austria, by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg, 1784
Hall (Maison Marius-Dufresne, Château Dufresne) 03.jpg|Empire style table with caryatids en gaine supported by bare feet, early 19th century, wood, metal, glass, pigment, and porcelain, Musée Dufresne-Nincheri, Montreal, Canada
St Pancras New Church, February 2015 01.jpg|Neoclassical porch with caryatids of the St Pancras New Church, London, almost identical with the Ancient Greek one of the Erechtheum, by William Inwood and Henry William Inwood, 1819-1822
File:Walhalla Halle1.jpg|Polychrome Greek Revival caryatids of the Walhalla Temple, near Regensburg, Germany, designed by Leo von Klenze in 1821, built in 1830-1842 (2025). 9781529420302, Laurence King. ISBN 9781529420302
File:Kariatiden Winkel van Sinkel.JPG|Neoclassical caryatids of the Winkel van Sinkel department store, Utrecht, the Netherlands, 1837-1839, by P. Adams
File:Immeuble-cariatides_(2).jpg|Neoclassical white terracotta caryatids of the Virebent Factory, Toulouse, France, by Auguste Virebent, 1840
South wall of the Room of the Niobids, Neues Museum, Berlin.jpg|Neoclassical caryatids of the south wall of the Room of the Niobids, Neues Museum, Berlin, by Friedrich August Stüler, 1845-1850 (2025). 9783791342627, Prestel. ISBN 9783791342627
File:Paris Quai de la Mégisserie 543.jpg|Neoclassical caryatids of Quai de la Mégisserie no. 14, Paris, sculptor Auguste Millet and architect Henri Blondel, 1864
File:Caryatids on Jenner's Department Store, Princes Street Edinburgh.jpg|Renaissance Revival caryatids on the Jenners, department store, Edinburgh, UK, by William Hamilton Beattie, 1894
Appuie-tête Luba-RDC.jpg|Luba art headrest with two caryatid, 19th century, wood, Musée du Quai Branly, Paris
Tabouret luba-Musée ethnologique de Berlin.jpg|Luba stool with two caryatids, 19th century, wood, Ethnological Museum of Berlin
Decorative arts in the Louvre - Room 538 (03).jpg|Rococo Revival gilt bronze caryatid on the fireplace in the room 538 of the Louvre Palace, Paris, unknown architect or sculptor, 19th century
P1020032 Paris III CNAM entrée rue Saint-Martin reductwk.JPG|Pair of Neoclassical caryatids at the entrance of the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Rue Saint-Martin no. 292), Paris, unknown architect, mid-19th century
File:19 rue des Halles, Paris 1er 3.jpg|Neoclassical caryatids of Rue des Halles no. 19, Paris, designed by Jean Lobrot and sculpted by Charles Gauthier, 1868
Théâtre de la Renaissance 02.jpg|Double Beaux Arts caryatid on the façade of the Théâtre de la Renaissance, Paris, by Charles de Lalande, 1873
File:11 rue Chomel, Paris 7e 7-3.jpg|Beaux Arts caryatid (mainly Neoclassical, but also Baroque Revival through the lower part rotated at 45°) of Rue Chomel no. 11, Paris, by J. Vramant, 1878-1880
Cariatide Wallace 4.jpg|Neoclassical caryatids of a Wallace fountain in Place Moussa-et-Odette-Abadi, Paris, designed by Richard Wallace and produced by Charles-Auguste Lebourg, late 19th century
File:Détail de la façade 06939 (cropped caryatid).jpg|Art Nouveau caryatid-corbel on the Maison Vallin (Boulevard Lobau no. 6), Nancy, France, 1894, by Eugène Vallin
4 Strada Buzești, Bucharest (03).jpg|Beaux Arts caryatids of a oriel window of Strada Buzești no. 4, Bucharest, Romania, unknown architect or sculptor, 1900
File:4 avenue de Tourville, Paris 7e 2-1.jpg|Beaux Arts atlas and caryatid of Avenue de Tourvill no. 4, Paris, unknown architect or sculptor, 1900
File:P1120996 Paris XII gare de Lyon train bleu rwk.JPG|Beaux Arts mermaid caryatids with a cartouche in Le Train Bleu, Gare de Lyon, Paris, 1901, by Marius Toudoire
P1330707 Paris VI rue ND des champs N82 detail rwk.jpg|Rococo Revival caryatids of Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs no. 82, Paris, designed by Constant Lemaire and sculpted by Louis Hollweck, 1904-1905
90 avenue Henri-Martin Paris.jpg|Art Deco caryatids of Avenue Henri-Martin no. 90, Paris, by Charles Labro, 1927
File:Old photo of Strada Edgar Quinet no. 6, Bucharest, Romania, in 1946.jpg|Art Deco caryatids on Banca Albina (Strada Edgar Quinet no. 6), Bucharest, unknown architect or sculptor, 1930
File:Spomenik Neznanom junaku 1.JPG|Art Deco caryatids of the Monument to the Unknown Hero, atop Avala, south-east of Belgrade, Serbia, wirhcaryatids representing all the peoples of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, by Ivan Meštrović, 1934–1938
File:Aleea Cariatidelor de Constantin Baraschi.jpg|Neoclassical caryatids of the Alley of Caryatids in the Herăstrău Park, Bucharest, dressed like Romanian peasant women, sculpted by Constantin Ricci, 1939 (2025). 9789730238846, Ordinul Arhitecților din România. ISBN 9789730238846
Caryatides depuis les Gogottes.jpg|Postmodern Venus de Milo caryatids of Rue Frank Lloyd Wright no. 14, Guyancourt, France, by Manuel Núñez Yanowsky, 1992
Gmach Sądu Najwyższego Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - kariatydy.jpg|Postmodern caryatids of the Supreme Court of Poland, Warsaw, by Marek Budzynski and Zbigniew Badowski, 1996-1999
File:Caryatids in Nogalas, Mexico.jpg|Postmodern cast stone caryatids in Nogales, Mexico, unknown architect, unknown date
Caryatides - DPLA - 27132c3bb5971c0cf8279178dff5f251.jpg|Caryatides, 1865; from the Nicholas Catsimpoolas Collection of the Boston Public Library
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