In European architectural sculpture, an atlas is a support sculpted in the form of a man, which may take the place of a column, a pier or a pilaster. The Roman term for such a sculptural support is telamon.
Atlantes depicting the Moors defeated by Charles V, Porta Nuova, Palermo
Beaux Arts atlantes on Rue Saint-Roch no. 45, Paris, by Bruno Pellissier, 1917
Sumerian façade of the Inanna Temple of Karaindash, Uruk, c.1413 BC, overall height: 211 cm, Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin, Germany
A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town on the Peloponnese. Karyai had a temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis in her aspect of Artemis Karyatis: "As Karyatis she rejoiced in the dances of the nut-tree village of Karyai, those Karyatides, who in their ecstatic round-dance carried on their heads baskets of live reeds, as if they were dancing plants".
The Caryatid porch of the Erechtheion in Athens, Greece. These are now replicas. The originals are in the Acropolis Museum (with one in the British Museum).
The caryatid taken by Elgin from the Erechtheion, standing in contrapposto, displayed at the British Museum
Intricate hairstyle of caryatid, displayed at the Acropolis Museum in Athens
Late Baroque caryatid and atlantid hemi-figures at Sanssouci, Frederick the Great's summer palace at Potsdam