UK_624 The Erechtheum Caryatid, 409 BC
Caryatids were columns carved in the form of female figures. This figure is one of six Caryatids that supported the roof of the south porch of the Erechtheum. The Greek inscription shown here on the wall facing this statue refers to them as korai (maidens), and records that they were in place on the temple by 409 BC.
This figure stood in a row of four, the second from the left. She resembles the girls in the procession of the east frieze of the Parthenon. She wears a peplos (tunic) with a short cloak hanging from the shoulders. Her long, thick hair is braided around her head, and falls on each shoulder and down her back. Early Caryatids carry a basket on the head to connect with the architecture they support. Here instead a cushion supports an unusual column capital.
The Caryatid came to the British Museum in 1816 with Lord Elgin's other marbles. Her sisters, much corroded after nearly two more centuries of weathering, were removed from the building in 1978. They can now be seen in the Acropolis Museum.
British Museum
UK_624 The Erechtheum Caryatid, 409 BC
Caryatids were columns carved in the form of female figures. This figure is one of six Caryatids that supported the roof of the south porch of the Erechtheum. The Greek inscription shown here on the wall facing this statue refers to them as korai (maidens), and records that they were in place on the temple by 409 BC.
This figure stood in a row of four, the second from the left. She resembles the girls in the procession of the east frieze of the Parthenon. She wears a peplos (tunic) with a short cloak hanging from the shoulders. Her long, thick hair is braided around her head, and falls on each shoulder and down her back. Early Caryatids carry a basket on the head to connect with the architecture they support. Here instead a cushion supports an unusual column capital.
The Caryatid came to the British Museum in 1816 with Lord Elgin's other marbles. Her sisters, much corroded after nearly two more centuries of weathering, were removed from the building in 1978. They can now be seen in the Acropolis Museum.
British Museum