Trieste, Italy

A telamon is a male figure that uses his head and shoulders to hold something up. Telamons are usually associated with buildings but their individual job descriptions may be up-scaled or down-scaled. This one has been assigned the Fountain of the Titans. His cousin Atlas, however, has been assigned something bigger to bear: the whole earth! [2008]

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Meet the atlantes who have held up Hotel Junker for more than a hundred years. In fact, they have outlived the hotel. Perhaps you remember Atlas, the Titan who held up the sky. Atlant is another name for Atlas, and a perfect name for these two because they hold up the building. They are also called telamons. [2021]

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

How far back in history does the inspiration for this pillar-mural go? Perhaps 2500 years! Here be the descendants of ancient caryatids and telamons, re-purposed to hold up an expressway rather than a building. Look again: It's not a pretzel, it's Interstate 794. [2021]

Williams, Arizona, USA

Choose one: (a) Classical art has devolved into folk art on the Arizona frontier. (b) Classical art has evolved into folk art on the Arizona frontier. What makes it classical? The telamons and caryatids of antiquity. What makes it folk? The chain saw sculptors of the wild West. [2019]

New London, Connecticut, USA

What words come to mind when you round a corner in New London and these maidens come into view? Strong. Greek. Antiquity. Entablature. Caryatid. Mural. Sculpture. Trompe-l'œil. Erotic. And maybe a few more that can't be spelled out here. [2008]

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Members of a jury are a nation's pillars of justice. But here there are only 11. "The missing pillar invites you to imagine that you are the twelfth juror." Jurors, yes, but also telamons and caryatids. What are they holding up? Not just the pediment of a Greek temple, but the entire Canadian justice system. [2013]

Mexico City, DF, Mexico

To quote Wayne Gerard Trotman: “Some people are silently struggling with burdens that would break our backs." Great landscapes make us think about our place in the world. [2008]

Bergamo, Italy

To quote Helen Keller: "Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." Sometimes those without vision are able to see the clearest. [2008]

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

To quote Harriet Beecher Stowe: "Women are the real architects of society." Here they are honored in Edinburgh's center, bearing the weight of society (and the weight of nineteenth century architecture) on their lithe frames. [2017]

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Telamons: using their heads, shoulders, and arms. Since they have no legs, you can be assured they will never abandon their posts! Never! Even though both ancient Greece and Rome inspired the birth of modernity, telamons are usually Greek in lineage. More skin = more Greek! [2011]

Piraeus, Greece

Telamons: male figures that serve as columns. Since these four are in the heart of Greece, however, we ought to call them by their Greek name: atlantes, the singular of which is atlas. Remember Atlas? From his perch in the far west, he supported the whole sky on his shoulders (though he is usually pictured as holding up the spherical earth). [2006]

Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Telamons: male counterparts of caryatids. But, in the case of columns, there were working women before there were working men. Both, however, remind us that the Renaissance continued for centuries. Here is evidence of the worshipful reverence that nineteenth century architects had for ancient Greece and Rome. Even the garb is Greek. [2017]

Sofia, Bulgaria

Caryatids: using their heads (as caryatids do). In ersatz classical style, these princess guards invigilate the entrance to Princess Casino. But, they do raise a question. Did the ancient Greeks engage in gambling? Yes, even the gods (notably Hermes and Pan) were known to lay odds every now and then. [2010]

Warsaw, Poland

Caryatids: three of them. They are wearing the prescribed vestments for their ilk. As the bronze personifications of faith, hope, and love, they set the tone for a new era of Polish independence when institutions like the Supreme Court (seen here) were being rebuilt in the 1990s. [2003]

Ponce, Puerto Rico

Caryatids: two of them. They support a false balcony overlooking the main entrance to the house of a wealthy industrialist in Ponce. Their ancestors supported the false porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis. Good ideas never die. They are simply recycled: in this case, recycled by the neoclassical architects of the early 20th century. [2009]

Madrid, Spain

Elephants seem to be more head strong than people, so they have been given a unique job by the architects of Madrid. They also offer a bonus service. They remember whatever they see with those under-sized eyes, perfect places for big brother to place CCTV cameras. "I see and I remember": a perfect message for a security-crazed society. [2010]

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Heroic action figures from the 1930s seem at home in the art deco part of town. Classical forms from ancient Greece and Rome have become heavy duty titans of the industrial era. Perhaps they are more akin to ferocious temple guardians of the Near East than the telamons of European antiquity. [2008]

Milan, Italy

Meet one strong-headed couple: Telamon and Caryatid. At least these two have been wise enough to bring along something to drink for a long day's work in Milan. Or, maybe, it's some herbal concoction in that amphora. [2008]

Athens, Greece

Creative thinking is about conceptualizing alternatives: exactly what these strong-headed women atop the Acropolis have been helping us do for millennia. Their message to 'chief builders': Functional alternatives to pillars can also be aesthetic. A caryatid is a feminine statue which doubles as a column, in this case holding up the Porch of the Maidens. [2006]

New York, New York, USA

These wee ones are the size of children, but they have the posture and countenance of adults. Their duty is to hold up the arch at the Ukrainian Institute on New York City's Upper East Side. Better hope they're adults; if they're not, we have a labor law violation. [2007]