[[Caryatids]]
It's okay, these aren't real women :) I'm sure that would be against health and safety laws or something.
These are caryatids, stone columns shaped in the form of young women, which hold up the roof of the north porch, hiding a supporting beam.
Each one is individualised, with slight variations in hair and drapery.
The question might be asked, why make them in stone? Surely bronze would replicate the look of skin better? Well, as scholars such as Neer have pointed out, a bronze column would actually bend under the weight of the roof.
Not all the caryatids are there. I've blogged previously about the one in the British Museum - it is said that when she was removed, the other caryatids could be heard wailing for their lost sister. Eerie.
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