Benvenuto Cellini

Benvenuto Cellini (November 1, 1500 – February 13, 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, painter, sculptor, soldier and musician of the Renaissance.

Works

Perseus with the Head of Medusa, 1545-54,in the Loggia dei Lanzi, FlorenceNB this image was taken before the statue's cleaning and restoration

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Besides the works in gold and silver which have been adverted to, Cellini executed several pieces of sculpture on a grander scale. The most distinguished of these is the bronze group of "Perseus holding the head of Medusa", a work (first suggested by Duke Cosimo I de Medici) now in the Loggia dei Lanzi at Florence, full of the fire of genius and the grandeur of a terrible beauty, one of the most typical and unforgettable monuments of the Italian Renaissance. The casting of this great work gave Cellini the utmost trouble and anxiety; and its completion was hailed with rapturous homage from all parts of Italy. The original relief from the foot of the pedestal — Perseus and Andromeda — is in the Bargello, and replaced by a cast.

Related Topics:
Sculpture - Bronze - Perseus - Medusa - Cosimo I de Medici - Loggia dei Lanzi - Andromeda - Bargello

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Among his works of art not already mentioned, many of which have perished, were a colossal Mars for a fountain at Fontainebleau and the bronzes of the doorway, coins for the Papal and Florentine states, a Jupiter in silver of life size, and a bronze bust of Bindo Altoviti. The works of decorative art are, speaking broadly, rather florid than chastened in style.

Related Topics:
Mars - Jupiter - Bindo Altoviti

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In addition to the bronze statue of Perseus and the medallions already referred to, the works of art in existence today executed by him are a medallion of Clement VII in commemoration of the peace between the Christian princes, 1530, with a bust of the pope on the reverse and a figure of Peace setting fire to a heap of arms in front of the temple of Janus, signed with the artist's name; a medal of Francis I with his portrait, also signed;a medal of Cardinal Pietro Bembo; and the celebrated gold, enamel and ivory salt-cellar (known as Saliera) made for Francis I at Vienna. This object, of a value conservatively estimated at US$ 58,000,000, was stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum on May 11, 2003. This intricate 16-centimeter-high sculpture was commissioned by Francis I. Crafted with amazingly rich detail and skill, its principal figures are a naked sea god and a woman who sit opposite each other, with legs entwined- a symbolic representation of the planet earth. The thieves climbed scaffolding and smashed windows to enter the museum. The thieves set off the alarms, but these were ignored as false, and the theft remained undiscovered until 8:20 AM. The fear is that these thieves will destroy the sculpture or melt it down.

Related Topics:
1530 - Janus - Pietro Bembo - Saliera - May 11 - 2003

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One of the most important works by Cellini from late in his career was a life-size nude crucifix carved from marble. Although originally intended to be placed over his tomb, this crucifix was sold to the Medici family who gave it to Spain. Today the crucifix is in the Escorial Monastery near Madrid, where it has usually been displayed in an altered form--the monastery added a loincloth and a crown of thorns. The likely model for this crucifix was Cellini's assistant Fernando, who is mentioned above as Cellini's sex partner. For detailed information about this work, see the text by Juan López Gajate in the Further Reading section of this article.

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Cellini, while employed at the papal mint at Rome during the papacy of Clement VII and later of Paul III, executed the dies of several coins and medals, some of which still survive at this now defunct mint. He was also in the service of Alessandro de Medici, first duke of Florence, for whom he executed in 1535 a forty-soldi piece with a bust of the duke on one side and standing figures of the saints Cosma and Damian on the other. Some connoisseurs attribute to his hand several plaques, "Jupiter crushing the Giants", "Fight between Perseus and Phinaeus", a Dog, etc.

Related Topics:
Alessandro de Medici - 1535 - Saint - Phinaeus

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The important works which have perished include the uncompleted chalice intended for Clement VII; a gold cover for a prayer-book as a gift from Pope Paul III to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor — both described at length in his autobiography; large silver statues of Jupiter, Vulcan and Mars, wrought for Francis I during his sojourn in Paris; a bust of Julius Caesar; and a silver cup for the cardinal of Ferrara. The magnificent gold "button", or morse, made by Cellini for the cape of Clement VII, the competition for which is so graphically described in his autobiography, appears to have been sacrificed by Pope Pius VI, with many other priceless specimens of the goldsmith's art, in furnishing the indemnity of 30,000,000 francs demanded by Napoleon at the conclusion of the campaign against the States of the Church in 1797. According to the terms of the treaty, the pope was permitted to pay a third of that sum in plate and jewels. Fortunately there are in the print room of the British Museum three watercolour drawings of this splendid morse by F. Bertoli, done at the instance of an Englishman named Talman in the first half of the 18th century. The obverse and reverse, as well as the rim, are drawn full size, and moreover the morse with the precious stones set therein, including a diamond then considered the second largest in the world, is fully described.

Related Topics:
Chalice - Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor - Vulcan - Julius Caesar - Pope Pius VI - Napoleon - States of the Church - 1797 - British Museum - Watercolour

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