Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) Born:-1500 ,Florence Died:- 1571 ,Florence Nationality:- Italian Education:- Accademia delle Arti del Disegno Known for:- Goldsmith, sculptor, painter Movement:- Mannerism Introduction:- Mannerist sculptor, goldsmith, technical writer and author, Benvenuto Cellini wrote a famous fast-paced autobiography, which arguably has given him a wider reputation than that justified by his works alone. Nevertheless, art historians now consider him to be one of the most important Renaissance sculptors, and his statue of Perseus with the head of Medusa is regarded as one of the masterpieces of 16th-century Florentine art. Cellini also wrote a number of technical books on goldsmithing, design and the art of sculpture. Cellini's career during the cinquecento may be divided into three basic periods:- (1) 1500-40, during which time he worked mostly with precious metals (2) 1540-45, when he worked in France for King Francis I at Fontainebleau (3) the remainder of his life in Florence, where he took up large-scale freestanding sculpture. Prone to violence and debauchery, as well as the creation of precious metalwork and other 3-D art, Cellini was probably lucky to live as long as he did. Biography:- Benvenuto Cellini was the third child of the musician Giovanni Cellini. At the age of fifteen, contrary to the hopes of his father, he was apprenticed to the Florentine goldsmith Antonio di Sandro. The following year he fled to Siena to escape charges of riotous behaviour, where he continued his training under the goldsmith Fracastoro. From Siena he moved to Bologna, visited Pisa and returned twice to Florence, before leaving for Rome. He was nineteen years old but already attracting attention for his metalworking ability. His Notable works are:- 1. Perseus with the Head of Medusa(1545) 2. cellini salty cellar (1543) 3.Crucifix 1. Title:- Perseus with the Head of Medusa(1545) Artist: Benvenuto Cellini Art form: Sculpture Description:- Perseus with the Head of Medusa is a bronze sculpture made by Benvenuto Cellini in the period 1545–1554. The sculpture stands on a square base which has bronze relief panels depicting the story of Perseus and Andromeda, similar to a predella on an altarpiece. The subject matter of the work is the mythological story of Perseus beheading Medusa, a hideous woman-faced Gorgon whose hair had been turned to snakes; anyone that looked at her was turned to stone. Perseus stands naked except for a sash and winged sandals, triumphant on top of the body of Medusa with her head, crowned with writhing snakes, in his raised hand. Blood spews from Medusa's severed neck. The bronze sculpture, in which Medusa's head turns men to stone, is appropriately surrounded by three huge marble statues of men: Hercules, David, and later Neptune.[2] Cellini's use of bronze in Perseus and the head of Medusa, and the motifs he used to respond to the previous sculpture in the piazza, were highly innovative. If you examine the sculpture from the back, you can see a self-portrait of the sculptor Cellini on the back of Perseus' helmet. 2. Title:- cellini salty cellar Artist:- Benvenuto Cellini Year:- 1543 Type:- Partly enameled gold sculpture Description:- The Cellini Salt Cellar (in Vienna called the Saliera, Italian for salt cellar) is a part-enamelled gold table sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini. It was completed in 1543. The cellar is the only remaining work of precious metal which can be reliably attributed to Cellini. It was created in the Mannerist style of the late Renaissance and allegorically portrays Terra e Mare (Land and Sea).In Cellini's description, the sea was represented by a male figure reclining beside a ship for holding the salt the earth he "fashioned like a woman" and placed a temple near her to serve as a receptacle for pepper.The salt cellar is made of ivory, rolled gold, and vitreous enamel. The gold is not cast in a mould but hammered by hand into its delicate shape. It stands about 26 cm tall. The base is about 33.5 cm wide and features bearings to roll it around. 3. Title:- Crucifix Artist:- Benvenuto Cellini Year:-1562 Material:-Marble Description:- 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 .