caryatids
Female figure pillars
Caryatids are sculpted female figures serving as architectural columns, supporting the entablature of a building on their heads.
The most famous examples stand on the Erechtheion temple on the Athenian Acropolis.
The singular form is caryatid.
Male equivalents, though rarer, are called atlantes or telamones.
The term extends to any decorative female figure used as a structural support in furniture or decorative arts.
Vertical structural element
- pillarUpright architectural support
- porchCovered entryway structure
- entablatureBeam structure on columns
- porticoColumned covered entryway
Acropolis · pedestal · capital · base · support · load-bearing · colonnade · facade
Offspring-bearing sex
- figureOutline or numeral
- drapedHung in loose folds
- robesLong loose outer garments
- statueThree-dimensional sculpted likeness
maiden · effigy · drapery · carved · chisel · likeness · posture · flowing
Of Athenian origin
- AthenianAncient Greek city-dweller
- ancientVery old indeed
- IonicScroll-capitaled column order
- VitruviusRoman architectural theorist
antiquity · Hellenistic · Parthenon · Roman · neoclassical · Renaissance · revival · replica
column
Vertical structural element
- pillarUpright architectural support
- porchCovered entryway structure
- entablatureBeam structure on columns
portico · Acropolis · pedestal · capital · base · support · load-bearing · colonnade · facade · temple
female
Offspring-bearing sex
statue · maiden · effigy · drapery · carved · chisel · likeness · posture · flowing · garment
Greek
Of Athenian origin
Vitruvius · antiquity · Hellenistic · Parthenon · Roman · neoclassical · Renaissance · revival · replica · Hadrian
feminine
Pertaining to women
servitude · captive · tribute · women · mourning · honor · commemoration · guardianship · devotion · sacrifice
- sculpturestatue, sculpture, sculptor, sculpting, bronze
- ancient artifactsjade mask, Viking sword, bronze sculptures, antiquities, Roman coin
- columnspillar, column, pillars, shaft, shafts
- ancient sculpturesGreek statues, Roman statues, marble statues, bronze statues, Venus de Milo
- classical architectureIonic order, Corinthian order, Doric column, Corinthian column, Ionic
- Classical Sculpturebusts, marble busts, bronze busts, marble sculptures, bronze statues
caryatidspiers
Waterside mooring platforms
pilasters · posts · pylons · buttresses · load-bearing walls