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Caryatid

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Load-bearing pillar in the figure of a female, Ancient Greece and later

The caryatid porch of theErechtheion inAthens, Greece. These are now replicas. The originals are in theAcropolis Museum (with one in theBritish Museum).

The caryatid standing incontrapposto, originally part of theErechtheion, was removed illegally^[1] by Lord Elgin and is now displayed at theBritish Museum

Acaryatid (/ˌkɛəriˈætɪd,ˌkær-/KAIR-ee-AT-id,KARR-;^[2]Ancient Greek:Καρυᾶτις,romanized: Karuâtis;pl. Καρυάτιδες,Karuátides)[3] is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of acolumn or a pillar supporting anentablature on her head. TheGreek termkaryatides literally means "maidens ofKaryai", an ancient town on thePeloponnese. Karyai had a temple dedicated to the goddessArtemis in her aspect of Artemis Karyatis: "AsKaryatis 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".^[4]

Anatlas or atlantid ortelamon is a male version of a caryatid, i.e., a sculpted male statue serving as an architectural support.

Etymology

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The term is first recorded in theLatin formcaryatides by the Roman architectVitruvius. He stated in his 1st-century BC workDe architectura (I.1.5) that certain female figures represented the punishment of the women ofCaryae, a town nearSparta inLaconia, who were condemned to slavery after betrayingAthens by siding withPersia in theGreco-Persian Wars. However, Vitruvius's explanation is doubtful; well before the Persian Wars, female figures were used as decorative supports in Greece^[5] and the ancient Near East. Vitruvius's explanation is dismissed as an error byCamille Paglia inGlittering Images and not even mentioned byMary Lefkowitz inBlack Athena Revisited.^[6]^[7] They both say the term refers to young women worshipping Artemis in Caryae through dance. Lefkowitz says that the term "comes from the Spartan city of Caryae, where young women did a ring dance around an open-air statue of the goddess Artemis, locally identified with a walnut tree". Bernard Sergent specifies that the dancers came to the small town of Caryae from nearby Sparta.^[8] Nevertheless, the association of caryatids with slavery persists and is prevalent inRenaissance art.^[9]

The ancient Caryae supposedly was one of the six adjacent villages that united to form the original township of Sparta, and the hometown ofMenelaos' queen,Helen of Troy. Girls from Caryae were considered especially beautiful, strong, and capable of giving birth to strong children.^{[citation needed]}

A caryatid supporting a basket on her head is called acanephora ("basket-bearer"), representing one of the maidens who carried sacred objects used at feasts of the goddessesAthena andArtemis. 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 inMycenaean times, like other plural femininetoponyms, such as Hyrai or Athens itself.

The later male counterpart of the caryatid is referred to as atelamon (pluraltelamones) oratlas (pluralatlantes) – the name refers to the legend ofAtlas, who bore the sphere of the heavens on his shoulders. Such figures were used on a monumental scale, notably in theTemple of Olympian Zeus inAgrigento,Sicily.

Ancient usage

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Intricate hairstyle of caryatid, displayed at theAcropolis Museum in Athens

Some of the earliest known examples were found in the treasuries ofDelphi, includingthat of Siphnos, dating to the 6th century BC. However, their use as supports in the form of women can be traced back even earlier, to ritual basins, ivory mirror handles fromPhoenicia, and draped figures from archaic Greece.

The best-known and most-copied examples are the six figures of the Caryatid porch of theErechtheion on theAcropolis in Athens. One of these original six figures was removed byLord Elgin in the early 19th century, an action that caused significant damage to the temple.^[10]^[11] The figure is currently held in theBritish Museum in London. The Greek government does not recognise the British Museum's claim of ownership over any part of the Acropolis monuments, and the return of the Caryatid, along with other monuments commonly known as theElgin Marbles, to Athens has been the subject of an ongoing international dispute.^[12] TheAcropolis 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 constructedlaser beam, which removed accumulated soot and grime without harming the marble'spatina. Each caryatid was cleaned in place, with a television circuit relaying the spectacle live to museum visitors.^[13]

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.

TheRomans also copied the Erechtheion caryatids, installing copies in theForum of Augustus and thePantheon inRome, and atHadrian's Villa atTivoli. Another Roman example, found on theVia Appia, is theTownley Caryatid.^[14]

Renaissance and after

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InEarly Modern times, the practice of integrating caryatids into building facades was revived, and in interiors they began to be employed infireplaces, which had not been a feature of buildings in Antiquity and offered no precedents. Early interior examples are the figures ofHeracles andIole carved on the jambs of a monumental fireplace in theSala della Jole of theDoge's Palace, Venice, about 1450.^[15] In the following centuryJacopo Sansovino, both sculptor and architect, carved a pair of female figures supporting the shelf of a marble chimneypiece at Villa Garzoni, near Padua.^[16] No architect mentioned the device until 1615, whenPalladio's pupilVincenzo Scamozzi included a chapter devoted to chimneypieces in hisIdea della archittura universale. Those in the apartments of princes and important personages, he considered, might be grand enough for chimneypieces with caryatid supporters, such as one he illustrated and a similar one he installed in theSala dell'Anticollegio, also in the Doge's Palace.^[17]

Late Baroque caryatid andatlantid hemi-figures atSanssouci,Frederick the Great's summer palace atPotsdam

In the 16th century, from the examples engraved forSebastiano Serlio's treatise on architecture, caryatids became a fixture in the decorative vocabulary ofNorthern Mannerism expressed by theFontainebleau School and the engravers of designs inAntwerp. In the early 17th century, interior examples appear in Jacobean interiors in England; inScotland theovermantel in thegreat hall ofMuchalls Castle remains an early example. Caryatids remained part of the GermanBaroque vocabulary and were refashioned in more restrained and "Grecian" forms byneoclassical architects and designers, such as the four terracotta caryatids on the porch ofSt Pancras New Church, London (1822).

Many caryatids lined up on the facade of the 1893 Palace of the Arts housing theMuseum of Science and Industry in Chicago. In the arts of design, the draped figure supporting anacanthus-grown basket capital taking the form of a candlestick or a table-support is a familiar cliché of neoclassical decorative arts. TheJohn and Mable Ringling Museum of Art inSarasota has caryatids as a motif on its eastern facade.

St. Gaudens' caryatids of theAlbright–Knox Art Gallery,Buffalo, USA

In 1905 American sculptorAugustus Saint Gaudens created a caryatid porch for theAlbright–Knox Art Gallery inBuffalo, New York in which four of the eight figures (the other four figures holding only wreaths) represented a different art form,Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, andMusic.^[18]

Auguste Rodin's 1881 sculptureFallen Caryatid Carrying her Stone (part of his monumentalThe Gates of Hell work)^[19] shows a fallen caryatid.Robert Heinlein described this piece inStranger 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".^[20]

In Act 2 of his 1953 playWaiting 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.

1984Les Dites Cariatides
2005Les Dites Cariatides Bis

The musical groupSon Volt evoke the caryatides and their burden borne in poetic metaphor on the song "Caryatid Easy" from their 1997 albumStraightaways, with singerJay Farrar reproving an unidentified lover with the line "you play the caryatid easy".

Gallery

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Ancient Greek caryatids of theCnidian Treasury,c.550 BC, probably marble,Delphi Archaeological Museum,Delphi, Greece
Ancient Greek mirror, 5th century BC, bronze,Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth,Corinth, Greece
Ancient Greek caryatids of theErechtheion, Greece, unknown architect, 421–405 BC^[21]
Ten female caryatids carved in high relief on the walls of the central chamber of theThracian Tomb of Sveshtari, first quarter of the 3rd century BC, southwest of the village of Sveshtari, Razgrad Province,Bulgaria.
Roman caryatid from the Sanctuary ofDemeter atEleusis, second half of 1st century BC, probably marble,Archaeological Museum of Eleusis,Elefsina, Greece
Las Incantadas, a group of Roman sculptures from aportico that once adorned theRoman Forum ofThessalonica, 150–230 AD, marble,Louvre^[22]
Townley Caryatid, 161–171,Pentelic marble,British Museum, London^[23]
Renaissance caryatids on the Cassetta Farnese, byManno Sbarri,Giovanni Bernardi andPerin del Vaga, 1548–1561, gilded silver, embossed and chiselledrock crystal,enamel andlapis lazuli,Louvre
Renaissance caryatids of the musicians' loft in theLouvre Palace, Paris, byJean Goujon, 1550^[24]
Baroque caryatids on the upper part of thePavillon de l'Horloge on theCour Carrée of the Louvre Palace, byGilles Guérin andPhilippe De Buyster afterJacques Sarazin, mid-17th century^[25]
Baroque caryatids of a cabinet,c. 1675, ebony, kingwood, marquetry of hard stones, gilt bronze, pewter, glass, tinted mirror and horn,Museum of Decorative Art,Strasbourg, France^[26]
Baroque caryatids in theApollo and Attendants Flaying Marsyas tapestry, 17th century, wool and silk,Minneapolis Institute of Art,Minneapolis, US
Louis XVI style jewelry locket ofMarie-Antoinette, byFerdinand Schwerdfeger, 1787, mahogany,mother-of-pearl inlays, paintings under glass, porcelain plate, and gilded bronzes,Chambre de la Reine,Palace of Versailles,Versailles, France^[27]
Pair of Louis XVI style caryatid, 18th century,gilt bronze,Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Louis XVI style caryatids on the Médicis Vase, byLouis-Simon Boizot,Pierre Philippe-Thomire and theSèvres Porcelain Manufactory,c.1787, porcelain and gilded bronze, Louvre [28]
Neoclassical caryatids of the portal of thePalais Pallavicini inJosefsplatz,Vienna,Austria, byJohann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg, 1784
Empire style table with caryatidsen gaine supported by bare feet, early 19th century, wood, metal, glass, pigment, and porcelain,Musée Dufresne-Nincheri,Montreal,Canada
Neoclassical porch with caryatids of theSt Pancras New Church, London, almost identical with theAncient Greek one of theErechtheum, byWilliam andHenry William Inwood, 1819-1822
Polychrome Greek Revival caryatids of theWalhalla Temple, nearRegensburg, Germany, designed byLeo von Klenze in 1821, built in 1830-1842^[29]
Neoclassical caryatids of theWinkel van Sinkel department store,Utrecht, theNetherlands, 1837-1839, by P. Adams^[30]
Neoclassical white terracotta caryatids of the Virebent Factory,Toulouse, France, by Auguste Virebent, 1840^[31]
Neoclassical caryatids of the south wall of the Room of the Niobids,Neues Museum,Berlin, byFriedrich August Stüler, 1845-1850^[32]
Neoclassical caryatids ofQuai de la Mégisserie no. 14, Paris, sculptorAuguste Millet and architectHenri Blondel, 1864^[33]
Renaissance Revival caryatids on theJenners, department store,Edinburgh, UK, byWilliam Hamilton Beattie, 1894
Luba headrest with two caryatid, 19th century, wood,Musée du Quai Branly, Paris
Luba stool with two caryatids, 19th century, wood,Ethnological Museum of Berlin
Rococo Revival gilt bronze caryatid on the fireplace in the room 538 of the Louvre Palace, Paris, unknown architect or sculptor, 19th century
Pair of Neoclassical caryatids at the entrance of theConservatoire national des arts et métiers (Rue Saint-Martin no. 292), Paris, unknown architect, mid-19th century
Neoclassical caryatids ofRue des Halles no. 19, Paris, designed byJean Lobrot and sculpted byCharles Gauthier, 1868
DoubleBeaux Arts caryatid on the façade of theThéâtre de la Renaissance, Paris, byCharles de Lalande, 1873
Beaux Arts caryatid (mainly Neoclassical, but alsoBaroque Revival through the lower part rotated at 45°) ofRue Chomel no. 11, Paris, by J. Vramant, 1878-1880
Neoclassical caryatids of a Wallace fountain inPlace Moussa-et-Odette-Abadi, Paris, designed byRichard Wallace and produced byCharles-Auguste Lebourg, late 19th century
Art Nouveau caryatid-corbel on theMaison Vallin (Boulevard Lobau no. 6),Nancy, France, 1894, byEugène Vallin^[34]
Beaux Arts caryatids of aoriel window ofStrada Buzești no. 4,Bucharest,Romania, unknown architect or sculptor,c.1900
Beaux Artsatlas and caryatid ofAvenue de Tourvill no. 4, Paris, unknown architect or sculptor,c.1900
Beaux Arts mermaid caryatids with acartouche inLe Train Bleu,Gare de Lyon, Paris, 1901, byMarius Toudoire
Two pairs of caryatids at the 34th Street entrance toMacy's Herald Square department store in New York City, sculpted byJohn Massey Rhind, 1901
Rococo Revival caryatids ofRue Notre-Dame-des-Champs no. 82, Paris, designed byConstant Lemaire and sculpted byLouis Hollweck, 1904-1905
Art Deco caryatids ofAvenue Henri-Martin no. 90, Paris, byCharles Labro, 1927
Art Deco caryatids on Banca Albina (Strada Edgar Quinet no. 6), Bucharest, unknown architect or sculptor,c.1930
Art Deco caryatids of theMonument to the Unknown Hero, atopMount Avala, south-east ofBelgrade,Serbia, wirhcaryatids representing all the peoples of theKingdom of Yugoslavia, byIvan Meštrović, 1934–1938^[35]
Neoclassical caryatids of the Alley of Caryatids in theHerăstrău Park, Bucharest, dressed likeRomanian peasant women, sculpted byConstantin Ricci, 1939^[36]
Postmodern Venus de Milo caryatids of Rue Frank Lloyd Wright no. 14,Guyancourt, France, byManuel Núñez Yanowsky, 1992
Caryatid inside theForum Shops at Caesars Palace,Las Vegas, unknown architect or sculptor, 1992
Postmodern caryatids of theSupreme Court of Poland,Warsaw, byMarek Budzynski andZbigniew Badowski, 1996-1999
Postmodern cast stone caryatids inNogales, Mexico, unknown architect, unknown date
Caryatides,c. 1865; from the Nicholas Catsimpoolas Collection of the Boston Public Library

References

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^Smith, Helena (2024-06-07)."Turkey rejects claim Lord Elgin had permission to take Parthenon marbles".The Guardian.ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved2025-11-18.
^"caryatid".Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
^Καρυᾶτις in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
^(Kerenyi 1980 p 149)
^Hersey, George,The Lost Meaning of Classical Architecture, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1998 p. 69
^Glittering Images, p. 25
^Black Athena Revisited, p. 197
^caryatide in "Notre grec de tous les jours" by Bernard Sergent
^The Slave in European Art: From Renaissance Trophies to Abolitionist Emblem, ed Elizabeth Mcgrath and Jean Michel Massing, London (The Warburg Institute) 2012
^Titi, Catharine (2023). "Elgin and the Marbles".The Parthenon Marbles and International Law. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 63–95.ISBN 978-3031263569.
^Korka, Elena (2022). "The Legality of the Removal of the Parthenon Marbles. Truth or Fiction? Archival Research Reveals the Facts about the Removal of the Parthenon Marbles by Lord Elgin".Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal.41: 151.
^Hitchens, Christopher (2009).The Elgin Marbles: Should They be Returned to Greece?. Verso.ISBN 978-1859842201.
^Alderman, Liz (7 July 2014)."Acropolis Maidens Glow Anew".The New York Times. Retrieved9 July 2014.
^A. H. Smith, "Gavin Hamilton's Letters to Charles Townley"The Journal of Hellenic Studies21 (1901: 306–321) p. 306 note 3. Townley inventories, where it is interpolated between No. 9 (Hecate) and No. 10 (Fortune).
^Noted by James Parker, in describing the precedents for the white marble caryatid chimneypiece fromChesterfield House, Westminster, now at theMetropolitan Museum of Art (Parker, "'Designed in the Most Elegant Manner, and Wrought in the Best Marbles': The Caryatid Chimney Piece from Chesterfield House",The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series,21.6 [February 1963] pp. 202–213).
^Also noted by Parker 1963:206.
^Both remarked upon by Parker 1963:206, and fig. 9.
^"archsculptbooks.com". Archived fromthe original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved29 December 2016.
^"Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone".The Collection Online. Metropolitan Museum of Art. RetrievedJanuary 29, 2015.
^Heinlein, Robert A. (1961).Stranger in a Strange Land. Putnam.ISBN 978-0-441-79034-0.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Watkin, David (2022).A History of Western Architecture. Laurence King. p. 38.ISBN 978-1-52942-030-2.
^"L'Incantada".collections.louvre.fr. Retrieved5 January 2024.
^Pinelli, Antonio (2010).Souvenir (in Italian). Laterza. p. 93.ISBN 978-88-420-9417-3.
^Bresc-Bautier, Geneviève (2008).The Louvre, a Tale of a Palace. Musée du Louvre Éditions.ISBN 978-2-7572-0177-0.
^Bresc-Bautier, Geneviève (2008).The Louvre, a Tale of a Palace. Musée du Louvre Éditions.ISBN 978-2-7572-0177-0.
^"Cabinet parisien 17e siècle".musees-strasbourg.skin-web.org. Retrieved13 September 2023.
^"Serre-bijoux de Marie-Antoinette". 1774. Retrieved21 September 2023.
^"Vase Médicis".collections.louvre.fr. 1774. Retrieved13 September 2023.
^Watkin, David (2022).A History of Western Architecture. Laurence King. p. 486.ISBN 978-1-52942-030-2.
^"Winkel van Sinkel".openmonumentendag.nl. Retrieved13 September 2023.
^"Maison en terre cuite de Virebent".pop.culture.gouv.fr. Retrieved13 September 2023.
^Bertram, Marion (2020).Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection; Museum of Prehistory and Early History. Prestel. p. 118.ISBN 978-3-7913-4262-7.
^"Immeuble".pop.culture.gouv.fr. Retrieved19 January 2023.
^"Immeuble".pop.culture.gouv.fr. Retrieved13 September 2023.
^"СПОМЕНИК НЕЗНАНОМ ЈУНАКУ НА АВАЛИ (Monument to the Unknown Hero on Avala)".Monuments of Culture of Serbia (in Serbian). National Center for Digitization. Retrieved16 September 2013.
^Mariana Celac, Octavian Carabela and Marius Marcu-Lapadat (2017).Bucharest Architecture - an annotated guide. Ordinul Arhitecților din România. p. 149.ISBN 978-973-0-23884-6.