What is the term for a sculpted male figure used as a column?

What is the term for a sculpted male figure used as a column?

• A. Atlas
• B. Caryatid
• C. Telamon
• D. Pedestal

Answer: (A)

Telamon is the term for a sculpted male figure used as a supporting column in classical architecture. The figure is carved to stand in for a column, bearing weight much like a built shaft. The word comes from Greek, meaning a support or pillar figure. In some contexts you’ll also encounter Atlantes, a related form derived from Atlas, the mythic bearer of the heavens; both ideas describe the same concept, but telamon is the precise architectural term for a single male figure used as a column. A female counterpart is a caryatid, and a pedestal is simply the base, not a figure. So the correct term for a sculpted male figure used as a column is telamon.

Telamon is the term for a sculpted male figure used as a supporting column in classical architecture. The figure is carved to stand in for a column, bearing weight much like a built shaft. The word comes from Greek, meaning a support or pillar figure. In some contexts you’ll also encounter Atlantes, a related form derived from Atlas, the mythic bearer of the heavens; both ideas describe the same concept, but telamon is the precise architectural term for a single male figure used as a column. A female counterpart is a caryatid, and a pedestal is simply the base, not a figure. So the correct term for a sculpted male figure used as a column is telamon.