Caryatid (female-shaped architectural support)
Date1st century
Label TextThis graceful female figure appears to be a Roman version of a "caryatid," a Greek architectural element. Like European artists of the Renaissance, or American artists in the late 19th century, this sculpture is a Roman attempt to signal a "golden age" by reproducing the art of the past. The sensuously modeled drapery that clings to the soft body beneath belies this figure's probable use-sculpted female figures installed in buildings as load-bearing columns: women bearing the weight of the world.
Object number40.91
Provenance[Yamanaka & Co., New York, by 1939]; purchased from gallery by Seattle Art Museum (Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection), January 1940
Exhibition HistorySeattle, WA, Seattle Art Museum, Classic Art of Europe, December 10, 1941 - January 4, 1942Published ReferencesSeattle Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum: Bridging Cultures, Seattle: Seattle Art Museum and London: Scala Publishers Ltd., 2007, p. 22, illus.
Fuller, Richard E. Seattle Art Museum. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1946, p. 22
Fuller, Richard E., Accessions, Seattle Art Museum Annual Report, 1940, p. 10Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection
Dimensions23 3/4 x 8 3/8 x 6 1/2 in. (60.3 x 21.3 x 16.5 cm)
Base 5 3/8 x 9 ¾ x 7 7/8 in.
MediumMarble
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