The Colossus of Rhodes

This is the statue of Helios, patron god of the city and island of Rhodes, located in the eastern entrance of the Aegean sea. It was constructed 15 years after the seige of the aformentioned city by the forces of the macedonian king Demetrios Poliorcetes, during one of the many wars for supremacy between the Diadochi states, inheritors of Alexander's empire. Since the seige, the Rhodians had experienced a period of economic prosperity, and in the year 292 BCE comissioned a statue of the cities patron deity to the artist Chares of Lindos, pupil of the sculptor Lysippos, some of who's masterful work survives to this day. While the statues size and beauty were reknown throughout the ancient world, it was not to last; only 54 years later, it would collapse on itself, along with the surrounding city, due to an earthquake of epic proportions. This natural disaster would cripple the city beyond recovery, while the statue itself (at the behest of the oracles of Delphi) remained ruined, the Rhodians declining to rebuilt it after believing to have offended Helios.

Updating with something a bit different this time around, this was a comission for the youtuber "Trey the Explainer", who will be publishing an indepth video on the subject next week, explaining it's history, it's destruction as well as some of the decisions which led to the reconstruction observed above, which you can check out here: https://youtu.be/bpcx-u4u1SE