Colossus: it appears in bronze (5)
I believe the answer is:
titan
'colossus' is the definition.
(both can mean something very big)
'it appears in bronze' is the wordplay.
'appears in' is an insertion indicator.
'bronze' becomes 'tan' (both can mean to get a sun tan).
'it' going inside 'tan' is 'TITAN'.
(Other definitions for titan that I've seen before include "Huge(ly important) type" , "heavyweight?" , "Jolly large figure" , "One of the mythological Greek giants who ruled the world" , "colossal one" .)