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 are the Caryatids of the Erechtheion?
The caryatid
This caryatid is one of six elegant female figures who supported the roof of the south porch of the Erechtheion (figures who do the work of columns—carrying a roof—are called caryatids). The figure wears a garment pinned on the shoulders (this is a peplos—a kind of garment worn by women in ancient Greece).
Where are the original Caryatids from the south porch of the Erechtheion?
The Caryatid columns now on the acropolis are copies, five of the originals reside in the Acropolis Museum of Athens and the other is in the British Museum, London.
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.
Who made the 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.
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.
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 .
What was important about the Erechtheion location?
The Erechtheion (or Erechtheum) is an ancient Greek temple constructed on the acropolis of Athens between 421 and 406 BCE in the Golden Age of the city in order to house the ancient wooden cult statue of Athena and generally glorify the great city at the height of its power and influence.
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 .
What are Greek theaters best known for?
The ancient Greeks built open-air theatres where the public could watch the performances of Greek comedy, tragedy, and satyr plays . They then exported the idea to their colonies throughout the Aegean so that theatres became a typical feature of the urban landscape in all Greek cities.
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.
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 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.
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 .
Who built Erechtheion?
The Erechtheion, designed by the architect Mnesikles , was a complex building constructed in the last twenty years of the 5th century BC. It replaced the “Archaios Neos” (Ancient Temple) of Athena Polias, part of which had been destroyed by the Persians sixty years earlier.
What does a pediment look like?
Pediment, in architecture, triangular gable forming the end of the roof slope over a portico (the area, with a roof supported by columns, leading to the entrance of a building); or a similar form used decoratively over a doorway or window. The pediment was the crowning feature of the Greek temple front.
