The Erechtheum, Athens, with Figures in the Foreground

Charles Lock Eastlake's The Erechtheum, Athens of 1821 depicts the great Ionic temple on the Athenian Acropolis — home of the famous Caryatid porch — in a state before nineteenth-century restoration altered its appearance. Eastlake painted Athens during his Mediterranean travels, documenting Greek antiquity with the combined archaeological interest and atmospheric sensitivity characteristic of his best work. The Erechtheum's distinctive asymmetric plan and refined ornament fascinated architects and painters drawn to the study of authentic Greek — as opposed to Roman — architectural precedent.

Eastlake renders the Erechtheum with scholarly precision, capturing the architectural details and the particular quality of Athenian light. The figures in the foreground add scale and narrative interest to what is essentially an archaeological study of exceptional refinement.