Caryatids - Supportive Women

Caryatids, or sculpted images of women serving as architectural columns or pillars, are named for the goddess Artemis Karyatis, worshipped in the ancient Greek town of Karyai. One of the best-known caryatids, from the Caryatid Porch of the Erechthelon at the Acropolis in Athens, was among the so-called Elgin Marbles taken by Lord Elgin in the 19th century to the British Museum in London. Romans and then 15th and 16th century architects revived the practice of caryatids.