He dreamt of creating a great series of stone caryatids, inspired by the nude or partly draped female figures that supported the stone entablatures of ancient Greek temples.
The caryatids, five larger-than-life-size female statues that supported a porch on the Erechtheum temple on the Acropolis, survey the museum's lobby from an internal balcony.
Freed of the need to bear a load, which would have subtly affected the shape of the shoulders and thighs, Modigliani's painted caryatids instead become highly stylised attenuated female forms.
Freed of the need to bear a load, which would have subtly affected the shape of the shoulders and thighs, Modigliani's painted caryatids instead become highly stylised attenuated female forms.