Caryatids

In antiquity, two large Caryatids from the Lesser Propylaea adorned the sanctuary of the Greek goddess of agriculture Demeter at her cult-center of Eleusis in southern Greece as architectural support taking the place of columns. Following the Christianization of the Roman Empire, one of the Caryatids was dubbed Saint Demetra by the locals and venerated as patron saint of agriculture and crops throughout the following centuries. Saint Demetra was removed from Eleusis in 1801 by Englishman Edward Daniel Clarke, who later donated it to the University of Cambridge; it is on display in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The second Caryatid B, preserved in a better condition than Saint Demetra though with significant restorations, was unearthed in Eleusis some ninety years after the other one was taken, and it is now exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Eleusis.