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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2010 11:24:00 GMT
Any big city that has gone through a baroque architectural phase is going to have plenty of caryatids, along with their male counterparts, the telamones. Paris is no exception, so I went on a short caryatid hunt this morning (elapsed time 20 minutes, while I biked back from Les Halles to my apartment). I hope to find more in the coming days, because they are lurking everywhere.
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Post by fumobici on Apr 4, 2010 3:05:59 GMT
Ooooooh- new words! ;D
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2010 11:08:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2010 11:10:55 GMT
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Post by bjd on Apr 4, 2010 14:05:50 GMT
I really like that police station! I have been in many places with no baroque heritage, but there are still caryatids and telamons. Didn't the males have another name like Atalante? Here are some ladies around a window of a cheap hotel in Buenos Aires. These are in Lviv, Ukraine And these people are not holding anything up either, but just standing around a mall in Harrogate, England
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 4, 2010 18:09:22 GMT
That male chorus line on the cop shop cracks me up! All of the photos are interesting. It's such an elaborate impulse towards ornamentation.
Are non-supporting statues, such as on the Gare du Nord still caryatids?
In reply #2, the second photo -- what is that wound on the statue's stomach? Are the girls coated in plaster? Love the expressions on their faces.
Great pics, Bjd, although they might be better placed in Image Bank, since none of them are in Paris.
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Post by imec on Apr 4, 2010 18:15:43 GMT
Great thread - and great pics too!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2010 18:37:20 GMT
Technically the Gare du Nord statues are not caryatids since they are not supporting anything, but since they are placed exactly where caryatids would go, I think it's close enough.
Yes, bjd, an alternate name for telamones is atalantes (from Atlas).
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2010 18:40:53 GMT
Yes, Bixa, I would say that they are covered with plaster. They were probably restored about 70 years ago or so and the originals are probably all eaten up with acid coal rain.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 4, 2010 19:36:48 GMT
Actually, looking at them again I realize that the statues on the Gare du Nord are visually supposed to be caryatids, tokenly supporting the token columns. Note how the top of each woman's crown lines lines up with the base of the capital behind her. It's an elegant effect and beautifully breaks up the glassy expanse.
Here is a little nugget I found while googling caryatid: A caryatid supporting a basket on her head is called a canephora ("basket-bearer")
Everyone go forth and begin using that word in sentences!
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Post by bjd on Apr 4, 2010 19:54:22 GMT
Bixa, I thought they should go here even if they are not in Paris because they are not" statues" in the same sense as in the statue thread. But you can move them if you want, or even delete them.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2010 11:41:57 GMT
Not a problem, bjd. It is always interesting to see what has been done in other cities. Meanwhile, I went to take a closer look at the caryatid with the stomach wound, and I fear that there may be a major risk of infection. Perhaps the pigeons are keeping the wound clean at the moment by picking out any stray maggots. Here are a few more from this morning...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2010 11:44:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2010 11:48:20 GMT
Just to the left of that last photo there is a little shop that takes advantage of their proximity. We mustn't overlook the most famous (and the most common) caryatids of the city -- the famous Wallace fountains.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2010 11:51:16 GMT
Finally, here is another example of "not quite" caryatids -- very straight standing statues that are not actually part of the column but which prolong it or stand directly in front of the column.
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Post by bjd on Apr 5, 2010 12:24:23 GMT
That brick building is unusual in Paris -- where is it?
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Post by bjd on Apr 5, 2010 12:29:58 GMT
Looking through my pictures, I found these guys. They have unusual postures for telamones (they look male).
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2010 13:38:52 GMT
That brick building is unusual in Paris -- where is it? That building is on rue de la Banque, next door to the Mairie du IIe. It's probably an annex, because it has the coat of arms of the city of Paris over the entrance.
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Post by fumobici on Apr 5, 2010 19:46:35 GMT
I was surprised to come across a Wallace fountain in a park in downtown Portland. I took pictures but I've seemingly lost them.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2010 20:05:21 GMT
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Post by patricklondon on Apr 5, 2010 21:48:54 GMT
Not sure if these are architecturally covered by the title, but I like them. This lady, for example, isn't so much supporting anything, as having a little rest (in the rue d'Abbeville) and this chap makes an appearance, rather like the Cheshire Cat, in Auteuil:
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2010 22:00:27 GMT
One thing that tempted me today while looking for caryatids were the various sculpted faces over doors and windows. And I was also amazed by the number of lion heads that one can find on the various buildings.
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Post by fumobici on Apr 6, 2010 0:55:05 GMT
My memory failed me, the fountain I was thinking of was not a Wallace: Way too large and different style.
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Post by Jazz on Apr 6, 2010 2:22:23 GMT
Not a Wallace, fumobici, but graceful and beautiful.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 6, 2010 3:07:50 GMT
Stomach-wound girl is putting a brave face on things!
What I love about the various Paris examples shown is how different the styles can be. The ones on the Gare du Nord look quite modern, for instance. The ladies in the penultimate photo of #12 have a pre-Raphaelite air to them, whereas the subject of the 2nd pic in #13 is severely Greek. Bjd, I think the reason the two guys in #16 have "unusual postures" is due to the limitations of their sculptor. Note the overly long torso and awkward right arm of the figure on the right, and the way the one on the left doesn't really seem to be supporting his own weight.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2010 5:04:05 GMT
Not a Wallace, fumobici, but definitely a caryatid.
Bixa, the Gare du Nord has just emerged from scaffolding and lots of cleaning and renovation, so those ladies are pristine. I'm sure you noticed that a lot of the others are badly in need of a shower.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 6, 2010 5:46:49 GMT
Well, I'm not so literal-minded that I was referring to their cleanliness. I mean that their style seems more modern than some of the others. And indeed, the date under the clock is 1864, which is edging towards modern times in terms of art.
The netting over the figures in #12 has the remarkable effect of making them look like trompe l'oeil paintings of sculptures.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2010 10:12:43 GMT
I love all these...the one in #13,I adore! All have something different yet,at the same time a similar feel to them,none seem out of place in their environs.And,yes,some are rather amusing without trying to be I'm sure,almost ridiculous looking. I love the fountain in Portland,very much. What a unique design to display water. (I want one!) I do tend to like the older looking ones,which aren't quite so spiffied up looking. Thanks everyone! I will revisit this thread I'm sure. I am trying to think of examples of these here that I can go look for and photograph.I know that one of the older larger hotels here has some lovely ones.
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Post by Jazz on Apr 6, 2010 17:20:02 GMT
A great thread. The 'modern' telemones of the police station (#3) have a special place in my memory. The day I first meandered along La Promenade Plantee, I looked to the right and was enthralled by the angels! I didn't have my glasses on. Today, of course, I would note the 'telemones'. The Promenade Plantee deserves its own thread as a unique use of an element that would have been destroyed in most other cities. It is a 4.5km elevated park. The Parisians developed an abandoned 19th century railway viaduct. The old rail line is the park and below are shops and cafes.
I think you mentioned somewhere the possibility of a thread on statures 'built into' buildings? This would be wonderful. Although it may be one of the most photographed doorways in the world, I am fascinated by Lavirotte's facade at 29 Rapp Avenue in the 7th arrondissement.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2010 19:24:56 GMT
A great thread. The 'modern' telemones of the police station (#3) have a special place in my memory. The day I first meandered along La Promenade Plantee, I looked to the right and was enthralled by the angels! I didn't have my glasses on. Today, of course, I would note the 'telemones'. The Promenade Plantee deserves its own thread as a unique use of an element that would have been destroyed in most other cities. The police station telamones are actually copies of Michelangelo's "The Dying Slave" (original in the Louvre). On the 'vines' thread in Putting Down Roots, I mentioned doing a Promenade Plantée thread and showed why it is too early. And I'm impatient -- but I know that this should wait until late May or early June.
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