Editing Atlas (architecture) (section)

==Origin==
Not only did the Caryatids precede them, but similar architectural figures already had been made in [[ancient Egypt]] out of [[monolith]]s. Atlantes originated in Greek Sicily and in [[Magna Graecia]], [[Southern Italy]]. The [[:Image:Agrigento Telamon.jpg|earliest surviving atlantes]] are fallen ones from the Early Classical [[Greek temple]] of Zeus, the ''Olympeion'', in [[Agrigento]], Sicily.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://phdiva.blogspot.com/2008/05/vitruvius-caryatids-and-telamones.html| title = Dorothy King, "Doric Figured Supports: Vitruvius' Caryatids and Atlantes: 5.2 Atlantes and Telamones"}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>  Atlantes  also played a significant role in [[Mannerism|Mannerist]] and [[Baroque architecture]]. 

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the designs of many buildings featured glorious atlantes that looked much like Greek originals. Their inclusion in the final design
for the portico of the [[Hermitage Museum]] in St. Petersburg that was built for Tsar [[Nicholas I of Russia]] in the 1840’s made the use of atlantes especially fashionable. The Hermitage portico incorporates ten enormous atlantes, approximately three times life-size, carved from [[Sortavala|Serdobol granite]], which were designed by [[Johann Halbig]] and executed by the sculptor [[Alexander Terebenev]].