Benvenuto Cellini
1500–1571 · Florentine goldsmith and sculptor of the Renaissance, maker of the bronze Perseus and author of a famous autobiography.
Benvenuto Cellini was born in Florence in 1500, the son of a musician who wanted him to become a flute player. Instead he trained as a goldsmith and became one of the finest metalworkers of the Italian Renaissance. He worked in Rome for popes and nobles, and he claimed to have helped defend the Castel Sant'Angelo during the sack of Rome in 1527. His violent temper involved him in brawls and killings, and he was imprisoned in the Castel Sant'Angelo, escaping once. He worked for King Francis I of France, for whom he made a famous gold salt cellar, now in Vienna. Returning to Florence in 1545, he worked for Duke Cosimo I de' Medici and cast the bronze statue of Perseus holding the head of Medusa, which stands in the Loggia dei Lanzi. Between 1558 and 1563 he dictated his Autobiography, a lively and boastful account of his life that was not published until 1728. He died in Florence in 1571.
Benvenuto Cellini is also an author in the library: author page and works.
Faith: Faith not well documented. Source: Wikipedia
Key dates
- 1500 Born in Florence
- 1527 In Rome during the sack of the city
- 1540–1543 Makes the salt cellar for Francis I
- 1545–1554 Casts the bronze Perseus
- 1558 Begins dictating his Autobiography
- 1571 Dies in Florence
Fun facts
- His father wanted him to be a musician, and he became a skilled player of the flute and the cornett, but at fifteen he was apprenticed to a goldsmith. (Source: Benvenuto Cellini (Wikipedia))
Read about them
Grades 9–12
- The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini · In the library
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