Caryatids

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13y

Alison Humphrey

an old architectural drawing shows the details of roman columns and pillars, with different designs on them

Caryatids of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis from The Antiquities of Athens

two statues are standing next to each other on the side of a stone building, one is holding a planter

Erechtheion, Acropolis, Athens, Greece

Erechtheion, Acropolis, Athens, Greece by mjharrington, via Flickr

a black and white photo of a teddy bear sitting on its hind legs with his head in the air

modigliani-drawings.com

Amedeo Modigliani’s massive, lyrical Caryatid sculpture.

two statues are standing next to each other

The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese. Karyai had a famous 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 live reeds, as if they were dancing plants" (Kerenyi 1980 p 149).

a statue with a hat on it's head in a room next to a wall

The Fitzwilliam Museum

One of two giant female statues that flanked an entrance to a decimated building on the sacred site. The matching caryatid was smuggled away to a museum in England. A British professor found it buried up to its neck in a pile of manure. It was keeping the fields fertile.

an abstract painting with pink and black lines on the bottom half of it, depicting a naked woman

Amedeo Modigliani. Caryatid. 1914 | MoMA

Amedeo Modigliani. Caryatid. (1914)

a woman standing next to a statue with a bucket on top of it's head

The Curse of Demeter

"A caryatid in the museum at Eleusis. It was one of two giant female statues that flanked an entrance to a decimated building on the sacred site. I thought it was Demeter. But the brochure says it is not a sculpture of the goddess, but of a priestess is who carrying the mystical objects on her head in a basket. (Called a KISTE?) No one is sure what was carried in the basket/chest, but the objects were sacred and secret."

an old photo of a statue in black and white

The view seen by a Caryatid of the Erechtheion.

an image of some statues on the side of a building that looks like it is part of a temple

Caryatides, young women wearing a peplos (They are not identical in design!, height c. 2.31). They support the roof of the south porch of the Erechtheion (Caryatid portico, The Porch of the Caryatids). Probably a work of Alcamenes (or Alkamenes), a student of Pheidias. Today only copies of the original Caryatides are shown. The originals are in a Museum. One stolen Caryatis is in the British Museum.