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| Anonymous Photographer Atlantes at the Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg ca. 1878-90 albumen print Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Adolph Menzel Atlantes in the Wallpavillon of the Dresden Zwinger 1880 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| John Mossman, Daniel MacGregor Ferguson and William Mossman Jr Atlantes 1875-77 freestone relief figures Granville Street, Glasgow |
Atlant, Atlantid, or Atlas – A muscular male nude, either carved or painted, acting as a column or pillar, carrying an architrave or other architectural element. This is the male counterpart of a caryatid. Named after Atlas, the Titan (giant) who in Greek mythology was condemned to carry the earth and the heavens on his shoulders. The atlant, employed by both Roman and Greek architecture, was revived in Baroque architecture and painting. The Romans called such figures telamones. The plural form of atlant is atlantes.
– Michael Delahunt, Dictionary of Visual Art (1996)
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| Annibale Carracci Study for Atlas Herm, Palazzo Farnese, Rome ca. 1596-98 drawing Royal Collection, Great Britain |
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| Paul Cézanne after Pierre Puget Atlas Figure before 1886 drawing Philadelphia Museum of Art |
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| Jean-Honoré Fragonard after Ludovico Carracci Ornamental Panels with Atlantes from Frescoes in Palazzo Magnani, Bologna ca. 1760 drawing Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Felice Giani Four Studies of Atlantes after the Carracci ca. 1821-22 drawing Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Domenico Maria Canuti Study for Atlas Herm ca. 1669 drawing National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| Annibale Carracci Studies for Atlante ca. 1590-1600 drawing British Museum |
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| Arthur Pond after Annibale Carracci Studies for Atlante 1734 etching British Museum |
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| Miguel Blay Study for Monument to Vasco Núñez de Balboa in Panama City ca. 1923-24 drawing Museo del Prado, Madrid |
Sonnet 50
How heavy do I journey on the way,
When what I seek (my weary travel's end)
Doth teach that ease and that repose to say
'Thus far the miles are measured from thy friend.'
The beast that bears me, tired with my woe,
Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me,
As if by some instinct the wretch did know
His rider loved not speed, being made from thee.
The bloody spur cannot provoke him on
That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide,
Which heavily he answers with a groan,
More sharp to me than spurring to his side –
For that same groan doth put this in my mind,
My grief lies onward and my joy behind.
– William Shakespeare (first published in 1609)
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| attributed to Simone Cantarini Study for Atlante before 1648 drawing Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Giacomo Maria Giovannini after Ludovico Carracci Two Groups of Atlantes before 1717 etching Harvard Art Museums |
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| Giacomo Maria Giovannini after Ludovico Carracci Two Atlantes before 1717 etching Harvard Art Museums |