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 of Peloponnese. Karyai had a famous temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis in her aspect of Artemis Karyatis. During his career, Modigliani made more than seventy drawings of caryatids, including some partly or wholly coloured in watercolour, pastel or coloured pencil. Their highly stylised manner revealed his interest in a wide variety of arts then considered to be ‘primitive’, including African and especially Cambodian carvings. These drawings were mostly preparatory sketches for sculptures and Modigliani is said to have conceived of a ‘temple to humanity’ surrounded by hundreds of such caryatids. However, he appears to have made only one carving directly related to this crouching figure.
As none of the caryatid drawings are dated, it is difficult to place them with certainty, but it is generally accepted that those which are highly stylised in a manner reminiscent of African art were the earliest, while those, as in the case of the following plate, which are rhythmical, with oval heads and almond eyes, were among the last. In this instance, the caryatid conveys an erotic charge, as the pose of the legs, with a foot under the crotch, is believed to be inspired by Indian erotic art. However, the image features a modern interpretation of sexuality, suggested by the depiction of the breasts and the hands held behind the head, reminiscent of the female figures in Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, completed several years before. Picasso’s large oil painting portrays five nude female prostitutes from a brothel on Carrer d’Avinyó (Avinyó Street) in Barcelona. Each figure is depicted in a disconcerting and confrontational manner and none are conventionally feminine. The painting caused a scandal in Paris when first unveiled in 1916, though it would go on to have a profound influence on modern art, as seen in Modigliani’s caryatid works.