Cellini, Benvenuto

Cellini, Benvenuto
(1500-1571)
   Florentine sculptor and goldsmith, now best known for his Autobiography, first published in 1728. Apprenticed as a goldsmith in Florence, he had a brilliant but unstable career, largely because of his own moral irregularities, which he admitted, often boastfully, in his autobiography. He is commonly regarded as one of the greatest sculptors who worked in the mannerist style. As early as 1516 Cellini had to leave Florence and move to Siena because of his involvement in a brawl, and his autobiography describes his many acts of violence, including murder. He worked for several years in several Italian cities, including Rome. He left Rome after it was looted by the imperial army in 1527 but later returned and worked in the papal mint on the design of commemorative medals. Although he was charged with the murder of another goldsmith, Pope Paul III pardoned him. Cellini fled Rome in 1535 to escape arrest, worked in several Italian cities, visited France, was arrested while back in Rome, but escaped and eventually moved to France.
   There he won the favor of King Francis I and created a grand-scale bronze sculpture of a nymph for the palace at Fontainebleau, his earliest surviving large-scale work. Also from this period is his gold saltcellar, an elegant example of his work as a jeweller. In 1545 Cellini returned to Florence and created for Duke Cosimo I a grand-scale bronze statue of Perseus holding the severed head of Medusa, probably the finest of his large works. He also demonstrated his mastery of carving in marble by incorporating an ancient marble torso belonging to the duke into a statue of Ganymede.
   Cellini's difficult personality and disorderly life, as well as the changing tastes of his patron, caused him to lose favor at court, and although his life-size Crucifix (1562) again demonstrated his mastery of work in marble, he never regained the generous patronage he enjoyed in his early career. He was an overwhelming personality. That personality is reflected in all of Cellini's literary work, which included the only two of his works published in his own lifetime, treatises on goldsmithing and sculpture, as well as a substantial body of poetry, not published until modern times, and his famous Autobiography (1728), which was widely translated into other languages. This work contributed significantly to the exaggerated idea of undisciplined individualism, violence, sexual irregularity, and irreligion that dominated much writing about Renaissance Italy during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Historical Dictionary of Renaissance. . 2004.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cellini, Benvenuto — born , Nov. 1, 1500, Florence died Feb. 13, 1571, Florence Italian sculptor and goldsmith active principally in Florence. Early in his career he worked in Rome, producing coins, medallions, seals, vessels, and a variety of other objects in… …   Universalium

  • CELLINI, Benvenuto — (1500 1571) Benvenuto Cellini was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author of treatises on sculpture and goldsmithing and of a celebrated autobiography. Cellini was born in Florence on 3 November 1500. Unwilling to follow in the footsteps of… …   Renaissance and Reformation 1500-1620: A Biographical Dictionary

  • Cellini, Benvenuto — (1500 1571)    Florentine sculptor and goldsmith; among the most important figures of Mannerist sculpture. Cellini spent his early years in Rome, creating mainly medals and decorative objects. From 1540 to 1545, he worked for King Francis I of… …   Dictionary of Renaissance art

  • Cellini, Benvenuto — ► (1500 71) Escultor, orfebre y escritor italiano. Una de las figuras más importantes del Renacimiento italiano. Esculpió el Perseo, una de las obras maestras de la escultura. * * * (1 nov. 1500, Florencia–13 feb. 1571, Florencia). Escultor y… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Cellini,Benvenuto — Cel·li·ni (chə lēʹnē, chĕ ), Benvenuto. 1500 1571. Italian writer and sculptor who is known for his Autobiography and his sculpture of Perseus. * * * …   Universalium

  • CELLINI, BENVENUTO —    a celebrated engraver, sculptor, and goldsmith, a most versatile and erratic genius, born at Florence; had to leave Florence for a bloody fray he was involved in, and went to Rome; wrought as a goldsmith there for 20 years, patronised by the… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Cellini, Benvenuto —  (1500–1571) Italian sculptor, goldsmith, and author …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • Cellini — Cellini, Benvenuto …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Benvenuto Cellini — (* 3. November 1500 in Florenz; † 13. Februar 1571 ebenda) war als italienischer Goldschmied und Bildhauer ein berühmter Vertreter des Manierismus. Benvenuto Cellini gilt als einer der großen Bildhauer der Nachantike und …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Benvenuto Cellini — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Cellini, en un grabado antiguo. Benvenuto Cellini (Florencia, 3 de noviembre de 1500 13 de febrero de 1571) fue un escultor, grabador y escritor florentino. Se convirtió en uno de los orfebres más importante …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”