1. Origin and Works
Leochares probably descended from Athens, where approximately ten statue bases with his signature were found,¹ and he worked from 370 to 320 BC. ² Many of his works, which are mainly known from references in ancient written sources, are dated accurately and offer plenty of information regarding his career.³ The early works of Leochares include the famous bronze statue of Zeus Brontaeus (“Thundering Zeus”) in Megalopolis, which was later transferred to Rome by Augustus (30 BC –14 AD),⁴ and a statue of Apollo, which was presumably bought (circa 365/64 B.C.) by Plato on Dionysius’, the tyrant of Syracuse, request.⁵ The Athenian general Timotheos (411-354 BC) ordered a statue of the “philo-Macedonian” orator Isokrates, just before his exile in order to dedicated it to the Eleusis sanctuary.⁶

2. Leochares at Halicarnassus
Leochares produced the sculptural decoration of the west side of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus⁷ around 360-350 BC. Various attempts have been made in order to attribute to him some of the monument's preserved sculptures. More attractive is B. Ashmole’s suggestion which attributes to Leochares the slabs no. 1013-1015 of the Amazon frieze and the slab no. 1037 of the chariot race frieze, now in the British Museum.⁸ Leochares was along with Bryaxis one of the younger sculptors who worked in Halicarnassus, where he must have arrived around 355 BC. He stayed there for at least 10-15 years and he must have made the ¼ of the Amazonomachy frieze, together with many assistants and apprendices. He must also have produced the race chariot frieze, which ran around the cella of the funeral monument. After Artemisia’s death in 351 BC, he continued working at the Mausoleum, whereas due to financial reasons he needed more work comissions. Thus he must have made the acrolithic cult statue of Ares, around 350 BC, which was dedicated to the god’s sanctuary on the Acropolis of Halicarnassus. However, this work is also attributed toTimotheos. ⁹ The god was portrayed as a bearded man with the characteristics of a middle-aged Attic hero of the 4^th century BC, wearing a military garment. A marble head smaller than life size dated to 135 AD as well as a historical relief dated to the 1^st century AD might reflect a lost Leochares’ work. According to B. Ashmole, Leochares made around 340 BC the marble enthroned and mourning statue of Demeter for the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Cnidus. The statue, now in the British Museum (no. 1300), is one of the few preserved sculpture–on-the-round of the 4th century BC.

3. Leochares in the service of the Macedonian Kings

One of Leochares signatures is dated to 338/7 BC and is related to a votive offering at the Asklepieion of Athens. To the end of his career, and due to his reputation gained since the Mausoleion at Halicarnassus, Leochares worked for the Macedonian royal family. After the battle of Chaironeia in 338 BC he made the gold – ivory statues of Philip II, Alexander and their family, which were displayed in the Philippeion at Olympia.¹⁰ Alexander’s portrait might have copied a young head of Alexander on the Athenian Acropolis.¹¹

Around 330 BC, Leochares along with the sculptor Sthennis from Olynthus, constructed a private family group consisting of 6 bronze statues on the Athenian Acropolis.¹² He might have co-operated with Lysippos at his last work, which was dedicated at Delphi after 320 BC; a now lost bronze group of Alexander and his general Craterus depicted in a lion hunt scene. ¹³

4. Works attested in written sources

Ancient authors mention many other works of Leochares, which however can not be accurately dated. Pliny, for example, describes a bronze group depicting Ganymede’s abduction by the eagle of Zeus.¹⁴ This work might have been a dedication to a sanctuary at Troy. Among Leochares’ works are also mentioneda statue of Zeus Polieus on the Athenian Acropolis,¹⁵ a group of Zeus and Demos in Piraeus,¹⁶ as well as a bronze statue of Apollo wearing a diadem.¹⁷

The most famous work of Leochares, however, was the bronze statue of Apollo standing at the pronaos of the temple of Apollo Patroos in the Athenian Agora.¹⁸ This statue can be dated between 338-322 BC. It constitutes the foretype for Apollo’s figure at the Gigantomachy frieze of the Pergamon altar, as well as the quintessential statue of classical antiquity, the so-called Apollo Belvedere at Vatican (Roman copy), as well as for later works: Perseus of Antonio Canova in Vatican.¹⁹

The slim proportions of the body and the diagonal movement of the Apollo Belvedere are also repeated in the so called Artemis of Versailles, which has been attributed to Leochares, although this attribution has been disputed.²⁰ He also made a bronze statue of the pankratiast Autolykos.²¹ The Lateran Sophocles type is also attributed to Leochares.²² Leochares created mainly bronze male figures, gods and mortals, recognizable for their slimnessand their diagonal movement but also for being moderate and conservative.