An atlas in Riga
by RicardMN Photography
Title
An atlas in Riga
Artist
RicardMN Photography
Medium
Photograph
Description
An atlas as decoration of an Art Nouvea building in 33 Elizabetes street, designed by Mikhail Eisenstein in 1901. Riga, Latvia.
In classical European architecture, an atlas (also known as an atlant, or atlante) is a support sculpted in the form of a man, which may take the place of a column, a pier or a pilaster. The Roman term for such a sculptural support is telamon (plural telamones or telamons).
The term atlantes is the Greek plural of the name Atlas - the Titan who was forced to hold the sky on his shoulders for eternity. The alternative term, telamones, also is derived from a later mythological hero, Telamon, one of the Argonauts, who was the father of Ajax.
Atlantes express extreme effort in their function, heads bent forward to support the weight of the structure above them across their shoulders, forearms often lifted to provide additional support, providing an architectural motif.
Industrial Revolution gave Riga unprecedented prosperity and a sudden expansion of the population. Wealthy entrepreneurs erected several hundred multi-story buildings. The distinctive look of Riga's central districts took shape in the early 20th century. By 1904, the eclectic character of Riga's architecture disappeared completely. 40% of all buildings in central Riga were built in the Art Nouveau style. This is considerably more than in any other city in the world.
Mikhail Osipovich Eisenstein, (1867 in St. Petersburg, 1921 in Berlin), was a Russian architect and civil engineer of Baltic German descent. His paternal grandparents being German Jews, had converted to Orthodox Christianity, and his maternal grandparents were thought to be Swedes. He graduated from the Institute of Civic Engineering in St. Petersburg in 1893. He was the designer of a number of Art Nouveau buildings in Riga (now in Latvia). He built several apartment buildings for State Counsellor A. Lebedinsky, including the ones at Alberta iela 4 (1904), 6 (1903) and 13, and at Elizabetes iela 10b (1903). His projects were characterized by decorative, odd-shaped windows, often with large female head shapes, bright glazed brick or ceramic plates, glass and metal tiles etc.
Because of the Russian Revolution Mikhail Eisenstein emigrated to Berlin, where he died in 1921 of a heart attack, aged 54. He lies buried at Berlin-Tegel Russian-Orthodox cemetery.
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January 8th, 2016
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