The Colossus of Rhodes : Archaeology of a Lost Wonder

by: Badoud, N.

The Colossus of Rhodes
Archaeology of a Lost Wonder

Nathan Badoud

The first comprehensive study of the most important statue in antiquity, one of the classic Seven Wonders of the World
Employs innovative research methods to break with two millennia of tradition, rediscovering the historical Colossus
Reviews the metamorphoses of the Colossus in visual art from the medieval period to present day

Description
The Colossus of Rhodes is both the most famous and the least well-known monument of Ancient Greece. Numbered among the Seven Wonders of the World, this bronze statue of the god Helios, thirty-four metres in height, was created by the sculptor Chares of Lindos between the years 295 and 283 BC, only to be destroyed by an earthquake in 227 BC. The legends which have spread after its collapse seem so strange and contradictory that specialists in Greek sculpture have been dissuaded from investigating the topic. Nathan Badoud publishes the first comprehensive study devoted to the Colossus. His book mobilises a large array of sources, ranging from antiquity to the present day. It proposes an intellectual excavation through the layers of the literary, artistic, and scientific tradition. It envisages the statue in its religious, political, and topographical contexts. It explores its function, its technique, its appearance, its meaning, and its location. It reconsiders the beginnings of the Hellenistic world, marked by the emergence of Rhodes as an imperial power, embodied by the Colossus.

Table of Contents
Introduction
1:The Rise Of Helios
2:The Kolossoí
3:The Artist
4:The Kolossós Of Rhodes
5:Over The Seas And On The Land
6:The Location Of The Colossus Of Rhodes
7:The Image Of The Statue
Conclusion

The Colossus of Rhodes : Archaeology of a Lost Wonder

by: Badoud, N.

• ISBN-13: 9780198903734 / 978-0-19-890373-4
• ISBN-03: 0198903731 / 0-19-890373-1
• Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2024