atlas

For the mythological character Atlas, see Atlas (mythology).

For the fictional character Atlantes, see Atlantes (Sorcerer).

Atlante therm figures on Tarnowski palace, Warsaw

In European architecture an atlas (plural atlantes) is a support sculpted in the form of a man, which may take the place of a column. Another name for such a sculptural support is telamon (plural telamones or telamons). Caryatid is the female equivalent.

The term is the Latin plural of the name Atlas – the Titan who was forced to hold the earth (or sky in some versions) on his shoulders for eternity. (The alternative term, telamones, is also derived from a mythological hero, Telamon, one of the Argonauts, who was the father of Ajax.)

Origin

Atlantes originated in Magna Graecia. The first atlantes found are ones from the Greek temple of Zeus in Agrigento, Sicily but similar figures had been already made in ancient Egypt out of monoliths. Atlantes played a more significant role in Mannerist and baroque architecture.

Palazzo Davia Bargellini, Bologna

Baroque period: atlantes at Sanssouci

Atlantes in Beaux-Arts style, Poznań

"Male Nude Atlantes" (Der Act 64). Max Koch/Otto Rieth, 1894

The Atlantes of the Hermitage

Terebenev's granite atlantes at the entrance to the Hermitage

When classical architecture was revived in the 19th century, many buildings included glorious atlantes that look much like the Greek ones. A prominent use of atlantes is at the entrance of the Hermitage Museum built for Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.

The portico of this building has ten enormous atlantes (approximately three times life-size) carved from Serdobol granite by the sculptor Alexander Terebenev working with one hundred and fifty assistants. Finishing such a grand project was not easy: each of the assistants worked on a specific part of the atlantes while Terebenev himself worked on the faces.

The design was first presented in 1840 and was chosen from two options: one with atlantes and one with caryatids (a female version of the atlantes). Terebenev was responsible for the entire plastic design of the atlantes. The figures were installed at the front of the museum on September 1st 1848. Leo von Klenze, the architect of the Hermitage extension, spoke very highly of these sculptures and even said that had the ancient Egyptians made the figures instead, they would have not been any better than the ones Terebenev created.

The figures stand straight and proud, with their backs arched forward and arms holding the ceiling at head level. The heads touch the ceiling and bend down. The bodies of the atlantes are slim but very strong, with clearly defined musculature.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Atlantes

• Atlas (mythology)
• Telamon

References

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