Bronze formed the outer surface of the Colossus of Rhodes.
Ancient descriptions and later reconstructions portray the statue as a bronze figure assembled from large plates. These plates were attached to an internal framework, traditionally described as involving iron and stone supports.
The monument represented Helios and was erected in the city of Rhodes after the islanders resisted a siege. Bronze was especially suitable for a large outdoor statue because it could be cast or worked into sections and then attached to a structural core.
The Colossus was not made from solid bronze. Its enormous scale required an engineered interior, and this construction method helped distinguish it from chryselephantine statues such as the Statue of Zeus. The statue eventually collapsed in an earthquake around 226 BC.