The Colossus of Rhodes

The statue was built by Chares of Lindo , student of Lisippo . After the word “ kolossos was erected "Indicated only the very large statues and it was counted among the seven wonders of the world.
The construction of the work lasted twelve years and was dedicated in 290 BC. to Helios .
It seems that it was inaugurated under Seleuco Nicatore .
From the story of Philo of Byzantium concerning the construction of the statue, we learn that it was 32 meters high and that the artist, after having solidly driven the bronze feet of the statue into a marble base with large iron pins, raised the rest of the body in layers, taking care to prepare an iron framework inside the statue , formed by horizontal bars and posts, which followed the shape of the statue and which were fixed with pins to the walls of it.
The iron skeleton was stabilized by a filling made with blocks of stone .
An embankment was raised all around for the casting of the bronze parts on site.
It is not excluded that it was made of wood and that the quantity of planks and beams required was taken from the colossal tower of siege, the Elepolis , 40 meters high, used by Demetrio Poliorcete .
In the years 224 and 223 BC the Colossus of Rhodes collapsed following an earthquake, breaking at the knees.
According to Strabo it was not restored due to a sacred ban.
The pieces were still lying on the ground in 653 AD ; were stolen by the Arabs during one of their raids and sold to a Jew from Emesa .
It is not known whether the statue held a torch or a spear.
The setting was vertical because, given the size, the statics had to be very safe. It is conceivable that for the features of the face and expression of the Colossus , Chares was inspired by the image of the Sun on the quadriga erected for the inhabitants of Rodi da Lisippo .
The images of Helios in the rodie coins they do not provide us with elements for the reconstruction of the Lysippean image, because from the first minting of 408 BC variants followed one after another that were not so different as to be able to recognize a new type, which reproduced the face of Lysippos Helios .
The sculpture of Chares in all likelihood, he had a thick halo around his head, like other images of the sun discovered in Rhodes .