the Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheum, Athens

A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural element such as a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on its head.

The earliest known examples were found at Delphi, dating to about the 6th century BC. They were revived in the 19th century by neoclassical architects. Perhaps the most famous examples are those of the Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis at Athens. A full-size copy of the porch exists in the 19th century St Pancras Church in London. The Romans also copied the Erechtheion caryatids, installing copies in the Forum Augustum and the Pantheon in Rome, and Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli.

The origins of the term are unclear. It is first recorded in the Latin form caryatides by the Roman architect Vitruvius, who stated in his 1st century BC work De Architectura that the female figures of the Erechtheion represented the punishment of the women of Caryae, a town near Sparta in Laconia, which betrayed Athens in its wars with Persia. The Greek term karuatides literally means "maidens of Karuai" or Caryae.

However, female figures were used as decorative supports in Greece and the ancient Near Easy well before the Persian Wars, casting doubt on Vitruvius' explanation. Caryae had a famous temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis in her aspect of Artemis Caryatis. The Erectheion caryatids may therefore represent priestesses of Artemis.

The male counterpart of a caryatid is referred to as a telemon or Atlas. A caryatid supporting a baskets on her head is called a canephora.

External links

• Artemis at Pantheon.org http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/artemis.html