Editing Atlas (architecture) (section)

{{redirect|Atlantid|the family of sea snails|Atlantidae|the companions of Artemis|Atlantids|the racial category|Atlantid race}}
{{short description|Architectural support sculpted in the form of a man}}
[[File:Sankt Florian Stift Haupttor Atlant links.jpg|thumb|[[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] atlas at [[St. Florian Monastery]], [[Austria]], by [[Leonhard Sattler]]]]
[[File:La Porta Nuova (Palerme) (6881310634).jpg|thumb|right|Atlantes depicting the [[Moors]] defeated by [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], [[Porta Nuova, Palermo|Porta Nuova]], [[Palermo]]]]
[[File:Paris 45 rue Saint-Roch 2012 02.jpg|thumb|[[Beaux Arts architecture|Beaux Arts]] atlantes on Rue Saint-Roch no. 45, Paris, by [[Bruno Pellissier]], 1917]]

In European [[architectural sculpture]], an '''atlas''' (also known as an '''atlant''', or '''atlante'''<ref> Hersey, George,  The Lost Meaning of Classical Architecture,  MIT Press, Cambridge, MA,  1998 p. 129 </ref>  or '''atlantid'''; plural '''atlantes''')<ref name="atlex">[http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/Aru.html ''Aru-Az'''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704103828/http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/Aru.html |date=2008-07-04 }}, Michael Delahunt, [http://www.artlex.com/ ArtLex Art Dictionary] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050424084418/http://www.artlex.com/ |date=2005-04-24 }}, 1996–2008.</ref> is a support sculpted in the form of a man, which may take the place of a [[column]], a [[Pier (architecture)|pier]] or a [[pilaster]]. The Roman term for such a sculptural support is '''[[Telamon#In architecture|telamon]]''' (plural telamones or telamons).<ref name="atlex" />

The term ''atlantes'' is the Greek plural of the name [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]]—the [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]] who was forced to hold the sky on his shoulders for eternity. The alternative term, ''telamones'', also is derived from a later mythological hero, [[Telamon]], one of the [[Argonauts]], who was the father of [[Telamonian Aias|Ajax]]. 

The [[caryatid]] is the female precursor of this architectural form in Greece, a woman standing in the place of each column or pillar. Caryatids are found at the treasuries at [[Delphi]] and the [[Erechtheion]] on the Acropolis at Athens for Athene. They usually are in an [[Ionic order|Ionic context]] and represented a ritual association with the goddesses worshiped within.<ref>Harris, Cyril M., ed., ''Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture'', Dover Publications, New York,  1983.</ref>  The Atlante is typically life-size or larger; smaller similar figures in the decorative arts are called [[Term (architecture)|terms]].  The body of many Atlantes turns into a rectangular pillar or other architectural feature around the waist level, a feature borrowed from the term.  The pose and expression of Atlantes very often show their effort to bear the heavy load of the building, which is rarely the case with terms and caryatids.  The [[herma]] or herm is a classical boundary marker or wayside monument to a god which is usually a square pillar with only a carved head on top, about life-size, and male genitals at the appropriate mid-point. Figures that are rightly called Atlantes may sometimes be described as herms.

Atlantes express extreme effort in their function, heads bent forward to support the weight of the structure above them across their shoulders, forearms often lifted to provide additional support, providing an architectural motif.  Atlantes and caryatids were noted by the Roman late Republican architect [[Vitruvius]], whose description of the structures,<ref>Vitruvius, ''De Architectura'', 6.7.6.</ref> rather than surviving examples, transmitted the idea of atlantes to the Renaissance architectural vocabulary.