In the Greek and Roman worlds, artists across the Mediterranean created sculptures with unprecedented realism, physical strength, and emotional depth. Bronze, with its reflective surface, tensile strength, and ability to capture fine details, was used for dynamic compositions, vivid expressions of age and character, and stunning representations of the human form. Bronze sparked a burst of artistic innovation as sculptors moved away from the idealised forms of the classical canon. Refined details and expressive shapes produced more realistic portrayals of physical and emotional states: a revolutionary combination of strength and pathos that transformed art history. Large-scale bronze sculptures are among the rarest surviving artworks from antiquity, as their valuable metal was often melted down and reused for other purposes.
The empty stone pedestals remaining at many ancient sites serve as stark evidence of the widespread use of bronze statues in the classical era and their scarcity today. Ironically, many bronzes known today have survived because they were once lost at sea, hidden, or buried, only to be rediscovered years later through chance or archaeological excavations. The depiction of the human figure is central to the art of nearly all past cultures, but nowhere has it been more significant or influential on subsequent art history than in Greece and later Rome.

The pinnacle of artistic achievement in this genre occurred during the Hellenistic period, when sculptors expanded the dramatic effects of flowing draperies, dishevelled hair, and astonishingly detailed depictions of veins, wrinkles, tendons, and muscles to their limits, making their sculptures the most realistic and emotionally expressive ever created by man and still among the heights of world art. The art of bronze sculpting in the Classical period was widespread, driven by the expansion of the Greek world under Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE. The influence of Hellenistic culture can be traced not only throughout the Mediterranean—from Italy to Egypt—but also in more distant regions, such as Thrace (present-day Bulgaria), ancient Colchis (modern-day Georgia), and southern Arabia. Greek bronze artisans, often itinerant, fulfilled commissions far from their homeland, while local craftsmen incorporated indigenous techniques to produce sculptures in styles fashionable at the time. Through trade, migration, plunder, and imitation, bronze sculpture became a conduit for the transfer of culture and technology. Bronze is an alloy typically consisting of 90% copper and 10% tin. Because it has a lower melting point than pure copper, it remains molten longer when poured into a mould. It also casts better than pure copper and possesses higher tensile strength. While many sources of copper existed around the Mediterranean during Greek and Roman antiquity, the island of Cyprus, whose name derives from the Greek word for copper, was among the most significant.
Tin, on the other hand, was imported from distant regions such as southwestern Turkey, Afghanistan, and Cornwall, England.

The first large-scale Greek bronze statues had a basic form shaped by their manufacturing technique, known as sphyrelaton, where statue parts are made separately from hammered sheets of metal and attached with rivets. Often, these metal sheets were decorated by hammering the bronze onto wooden forms to create reliefs or by incising designs using a technique called tracing. In the Late Archaic Period (500-480 BC), sphyrelaton ceased to be the primary method as lost-wax casting became the dominant technique for producing bronze statues. Bronze lost-wax casting is performed in three different ways: solid lost-wax casting, hollow lost-wax casting via the direct process, and hollow lost-wax casting via the indirect process. The first method, which is also the oldest and simplest, involves a model cast in solid wax. This model is surrounded by clay and then heated to remove the wax and harden the clay. The mould is then inverted, and molten metal is poured into it. When cooled, the clay model is broken away to reveal a solid bronze replica. Because bronze’s physical properties do not allow for large solid castings, the use of solid wax models restricted casters to tiny figures. To address this, the ancient Greeks adopted the hollow lost-wax casting process to create large, freestanding bronze statues. Typically, large sculptures were cast in multiple parts, such as the head, torso, arms, and legs.

In the direct lost-wax casting process, the sculptor first creates a clay core that roughly matches the intended statue's size and shape. For large statues, an armature, usually made of iron rods, is used to stabilise the core. The clay core is then coated with wax, with vents added to allow the flow of molten metal and gas to escape, ensuring a uniform casting. Next, the model is covered with a coarse outer layer of clay and heated to remove all wax, forming a hollow mould. The mould is reheated for an extended period to harden the clay and eliminate residual wax. Once complete, the bronze is poured into the mould until it is full. After cooling, the mould is broken away, and the bronze piece is finished. In the indirect method of lost-wax casting, the original model is preserved throughout the process. This allows for recasting sections, producing a series of identical statues, and assembling large statues from multiple parts. Due to these benefits, most large-scale ancient Greek and Roman bronze statues were made using the indirect method. First, a model of the statue is created in the sculptor's chosen material, usually clay. A clay or plaster mould is then cast around the model to replicate its shape. This mould is made in as few sections as possible without damaging the undercuts. After drying, the segments are removed, reassembled, and fixed together. Each mould segment is then coated with a thin layer of beeswax.

After the wax has cooled, the mould is removed, and the artist checks whether all the desired details have been transferred from the original model; corrections and other information can be made to the wax model at this stage. The bronzesmith then attaches a system of funnels, channels, and vents to the wax model and covers the entire structure with one or more layers of clay. As in the direct method, the clay mould is heated, and the wax is poured out. It is reheated to a higher temperature to bake the clay, and then reheated once more before pouring the molten metal. When the metal cools, the mould is broken open to reveal the cast bronze segment of the statue. Any protrusions left by the sprues are trimmed, and minor imperfections are removed with abrasives. The separately cast parts are then joined together by metallurgical and mechanical means. The skill with which these joints were achieved in ancient times stands as one of the most significant technical feats of Greek and Roman bronzework. During the finishing process, decorative details such as hair and other surface designs can be highlighted by cold working with a chisel. The ancient Greeks and Romans often added eyes set in glass or stone, teeth and nails inlaid in silver, and lips and nipples inlaid in copper, all of which contributed to the strikingly lifelike appearance of a bronze statue. Since most ancient bronze statues have been lost or melted down for their metal, marble copies made during the Roman period serve as our primary visual evidence of the masterpieces created by famous Greek sculptors.