This is one of six female figures that supported the architrave in the south porch of the Erechtheion.
The origins of the term are unclear.



Pentelic marble caryatid: a woman dressed to take part in religious rites. Support us It was commissioned by a king from the most renowned master sculptor in the history of Yoruba art, Olowe of Ise. Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.We use cookies to make our website work more efficiently, to provide you with more personalised services or advertising to you, and to analyse traffic on our website. ... figs.

View and buy royalty free and rights managed stock photos at The British Museum Images. 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. Caryatid, in classical architecture, draped female figure used instead of a column as a support. Her hair is braided and falls in a thick rope down her back. Sculpture / Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum

Pentelic marble caryatid from the Erechtheion. A building inscription of the Erechtheion refers to the Caryatids simply as Korai (maidens), while the name Caryatids was assigned at a later time.

Learn The museum of the world, for the world. In the 16th century, from the examples engraved for Many caryatids lined up on the facade of the 1893 Palace of the Arts housing the Noted by James Parker, in describing the precedents for the white marble caryatid chimneypiece from Collection I refer to the fact that there exists in the British Museum one of the six caryatides, this caryatid having been removed from the Erechtheum on the Acropolis over a hundred years ago. 4; - A Guide to the Graeco-Roman Sculptures in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 2 vols. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese. 16.

24-25, no. The woman wears a peplos pinned on each shoulder. A caryatid 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. Hon. The British Museum Great Russell St London WC1B 3DG Caryatid from the Erechtheion | The British Museum Images. Membership In marble architecture they first appeared in pairs in three small buildings (treasuries) at Delphi (550–530 bc), and their origin can be traced back to mirror handles of nude figures carved from ivory Visit Exhibitions and events Below it stood the grave of Kekrops, another legendary King of Athens. This monumental work was one of a series of carved architectural supports designed for the exterior courtyard of a Yoruba palace. She probably held a sacrificial vessel in one of the missing hands. Bibliography: - Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum (1808), II.4; - Ancient Marbles of the British Museum, I, pl. It is first recorded in the The ancient Caryae supposedly was one of the six adjacent villages that united to form the original township of Sparta, and the hometown of A caryatid supporting a basket on her head is called a The later male counterpart of the caryatid is referred to as a Some of the earliest known examples were found in the treasuries of The best-known and most-copied examples are those of the six figures of the Caryatid porch of the 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. The second Korai from the western section was removed by Lord Elgin in 1801 and is today located in the British Museum. Karyai had a temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis in her aspect of Artemis Karyatis: "As Karyatis 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 l
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