Gipsmodellen voor kariatiden op het Palais du Louvre door Pierre Charles Simart c. 1855 - 1857

Edouard Baldus captured these plaster models for caryatids on the Palais du Louvre through the lens of his camera. Caryatids, figures of women serving as architectural support, find their origins in ancient Greece, embodying a cultural memory of strength and servitude. We recall those original caryatids of the Erechtheion, their draped forms bearing the weight of the temple roof. This motif evolved through the centuries, reappearing during the Renaissance and Neoclassical periods. Here, in Baldus’s photograph, these figures are captured in an act of preservation, and we see how cultural symbols are continually reinterpreted. The serene faces and graceful poses of the caryatids evoke a sense of timeless elegance, yet their function as supporting structures carries an emotional weight, resonating with deep, subconscious associations of burden and resilience. The image speaks to the cyclical nature of symbols, and the psychological power they exert across time.