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Artists in 60 Seconds: Benvenuto Cellini

By Shelley Esaak, About.com

Photograph provided by FBI Art Crime Team; used with permission

Benvenuto Cellini (Italian, 1500-1571). Saltcellar, called the "Saliera," 1540-1543. Gold, covered in part by enamel; base: ebony. H 26 cm, W 33.5 cm.

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Movement, Style, School or Type of Art:

Italian Mannerism

Date and Place of Birth:

November 3, 1500, Florence, Italy

Life:

A talented goldsmith with a hot temper, Cellini spent large amounts of time moving around to escape the results of dueling and romantic dallying. Nonetheless, his talent was such that a Pope, a king and the head of the Medici family (among others) all commissioned his works. Unfortunately, only a small number of his pieces survive (some of the owners had them melted and sold, when in dire financial straits). Cellini also wrote a rather self-aggrandizing, though entertaining, autobiography.

Important Works:

    Salt Cellar (1540-44)
    Nymph of Fontainebleau (1542-44)
    Perseus with the Head of Medusa (1545-54)
    Portrait of Bindo Altoviti (1549)

Date and Place of Death:

February 13, 1571, Florence, Italy

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