Caryatid is an architectural element that is popular in any style

Caryatid is the name of an architectural column that took the form of a female figure. The most famous example can be found on the southern porch of the Erechtheion temple on the Acropolis in Athens.

Ancient legends

In the Hellenistic culture, the "caryatid" is the virgin of Caria, the famous Peloponnese temple. Harius was dedicated to the goddess Artemis. Like Caryatids, she rejoiced, dancing among the walnut trees in the city of Caria. At this time, the virgins in the enthusiastic dance were carrying baskets of freshly cut reeds on their heads. They represented the dance of plants.

The Roman architect Vitruvius assumed that the caryatid is a slave. Vitruvius saw how they are used in the form of columns in the Ionic architecture. But the caryatid itself is an evolving Persian column. True, the Persians used animals to support buildings.

Erechtheum

The six most famous caryatids support the roof of the false southern porch of the Erechtheion at the Athenian Acropolis. This building was built by Pericles, presumably between 421-406 BC. E. To accommodate the ancient wooden religious sculpture of Athena. He also served as the center of veneration of Erechtheus (the mythical king of Athens) and his brothers, including Poseidon. In these caryatids, clothing has a wet appearance and sticks to the bodies. The positions of the legs and hips are bold and dynamic. Three of them stand leaning on the right leg with the body, and the others on the left leg. Hairstyles are also important. They, heavy and bulky, are designed to strengthen the most unreliable place - the neck of figures, on which a large load falls. The hands of the sculptures, unfortunately, were lost. According to the preserved Roman copies, one can see that the right hand held small vessels for libations, while the left one supported and slightly lifted their clothes. It is assumed that they are carved by different sculptors in the workshop of Alkamena, the disciple of Phidias. It is interesting that this porch stands over the mythical grave of King Cecrop. The erection of the caryatids may have been a tribute to his memory. Now on the porch there are their copies. Five original caryatids are in the museums of the Acropolis, where they can be inspected from all sides, and the sixth - in the British Museum in London. Summing up the excursion into history, we can say that the caryatid is in the architecture the decorative element of the column, which can also have a bearing function.

Renaissance and after it

At this time, they began to be used in interiors during the construction of fireplaces. During the Baroque period, they appear in Scotland as a carved decoration over a fireplace in the large hall of the castle of Michels. In the late German Baroque caryatids are in the castle of Sanssouci Frederick the Great in Schloss. The statue of the clothed woman also began to be used as legs for tables, shelves and candlesticks.

The Empire style did not ignore this decorative element. Imagination of the artist continued to occupy the idea of a beautiful woman who carries the sky.

In 1881, Auguste Rodin sculpted a caryatid figurine that had fallen from the stone. He was the only one who saw how hard it was for the girl to carry the burden, which still tried to get up.

Male caryatid double

He has two names: telamon and atlant. The first name, or rather the name, meant "support" or "support." It was the mythical son of Eak and the Aeneid. He was the king of Salamis. This strong man sat on the oars, when the Argonauts were going behind the fleece, he participated in the Calydon hunt for a wild boar, which did not give rest to the whole district, which Theusi defeated.

Atlant is a mighty Titan who holds the firmament on his shoulders. Is it possible for him to bear such a burden? No matter how hard it may be, courage and patience allow him to keep it. In Greek mythology, he was turned into stone or rock.

Twin Sculptures

Atlantis and caryatids decorate the facades of buildings, support balconies, performing an aesthetic function. Especially good are the atlantes supporting the portico of the New Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Initially, according to the architect L. Klenze, he had to be supported by caryatids. But this project was rejected, and eight years later, in 1848, AI Terebenev created ten sculptures of atlantes from the dark granite mined in the deposit on Lake Ladoga. They stand on a pedestal of Karelian coarse granite. Work on sculptures was for two years. At the sculptor primary processing of a stone was engaged about one hundred and fifty stonemasons. The finished work aroused universal admiration. Atlantis and caryatids are typical for the classicism style. A common distinction is that the atlantes support the entablature with their hands, and the caryatids carry it on their heads. Let's clarify the concept of "entablature".

Architecture: building elements

The French word "entablature" means an overlap made of beams. It consists of architrave, frieze and eaves. In architecture, architrave has two meanings:

• A crossbeam that fits between columns or openings of windows, it is on top;
• The same crossbar, which is laid on the capitals of columns, decorated with various orders, that is, canonical drawings.

Modern use of caryatids

The Greeks were inspired by the creation of caryatids by the girls from Caria. Dressed in clothes, their sculptural images were supported by buildings. This tradition continues. But often in the architecture standing at the level of its century, instead of marble or stone used concrete, glass composite. In the interior, wood or plaster is used.

To this day, both Atlanteans and Caryatids are in demand in modern architecture. Eclectic, modern, neo-renaissance - they are possible everywhere. The framework of their style does not constrain. The idea of the artist who uses them does not close, but draws inspiration from a tradition that goes through the millennia.