Built in the 5th century BC , the Erechtheion and the caryatids have been copied over and over again, from ancient Rome to London and modern-day Chicago. Those caryatids we see on the Acropolis today are replicas.
How tall are the Caryatids of the Erechtheion?
The caryatids stand 2,27 meters (7.5 feet) and are made of the best Greek marble, Pentelic. Like early Korai figures of archaic Greece, these women stand tall and straight.
How tall are the caryatids?
Each Caryatid is 2,27m high and stand 1,68m distance from each other. The elegant figures of the Caryatides have been fully uncovered and now show their Ionic Chiton [ankle length, belted garment] with all of the fine carving on these magnificent female figures.
How many Caryatids are there?
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.
What is the Caryatids of the Porch of the Maidens?
Caryatids are female figures that serve as the architectural support for the entablature of a building . The Greeks called these supporting figures korai, maidens.
Where Are The original Caryatids?
The originals are housed in the Acropolis Museum in Athens . The Caryatids at the Acropolis Museum. Diagrams focused on each layer of dirt to assist conservators during the lengthy restoration.
Where are Caryatids found?
The caryatids, Erechtheion, Acropolis, Athens . Caryatids are draped, sculpted female figures, supportive Goddesses so to speak, used as decorative support in place of columns or pillars, called in Greek Karyatides. The most famous caryatids of Greece stand guard over the Erechtheion of the Acropolis, Athens.
What is a male caryatid called?
A Caryatid is a female figure used as an architectural support in place of a pillar. The male equivalent is an Atlantes , and these too are covered on this page – though the female is much the more common.
Are caryatids Ionic?
Caryatid. A caryatid is a sculpture of a woman that is used as a column, usually to support a porch roof. Caryatids were never used in Doric architecture and only rarely in Ionic .
What is a metope in Greek?
In classical architecture, a metope (μετόπη) is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order.
Who made caryatids?
Caryatid (South Porch) and Ionic Column (North Porch), Erechtheion on the Acropolis, Athens, marble, 421-407 B.C.E., Classical Period (British Museum, London); Mnesicles may have been the architect.
Who built the caryatids?
The temple as seen today was built between 421 and 406 BC. Its architect may have been Mnesicles , and it derived its name from a shrine dedicated to the legendary Greek hero Erichthonius. The sculptor and mason of the structure was Phidias, who was employed by Pericles to build both the Erechtheum and the Parthenon.
What period is Nike adjusting her sandal from?
Nike Adjusting Her Sandal ( 410-405 BCE ) is a high relief marble panel from the parapet of the Temple of Athena Nike in the Acropolis of Athens.
What is the difference between an Canephora and a caryatid?
Caryatids with baskets on their heads are called canephora (In ancient Greece, the kanephorus were maidens who carried sacred offerings in baskets upon their heads to the altar on the acropolis). ... The male equivalent of a caryatid is a telamon or atlas .
Why are the caryatids important?
Part figurative female sculpture and part architectural element, the caryatid has helped creatively carry the weight of buildings for thousands of years . While they proved particularly popular in Ancient Greece—their place of origin—they continue to blur the line between art and architecture today.
What was the significance of the porch of the Caryatids?
Interestingly, the porch of the Erechtheion stands over what was believed to be the tomb of the mythical king Kekrops and perhaps the Caryatids and their libation vessels are a tribute to this fact – libations were poured into the ground as an offering to the dead during religious festivals .
