End time benvenuto cellini. Italian sculptor Cellini Benvenuto: biography, creativity and interesting facts

Life of Benvenuto, son of Maestro Giovanni Cellini, Florentine, written by himself in Florence.

Benvenuto Cellini's memoirs are written in the first person. According to the famous jeweler and sculptor, every person who has accomplished something valiant is obliged to tell the world about himself, but one should begin this good deed only after forty years. Benvenuto took up his pen in the fifty-ninth year of his life, and firmly decided to narrate only what was relevant to himself. (The reader of the notes needs to remember that Benvenuto had a rare ability to distort both proper names and geographical names.)

The first book is devoted to the period from 1500 to 1539. Benvenuto reports that he was born into a simple but noble family. In ancient times, a brave military commander named Fiorino from Cellino served under the command of Julius Caesar. When the city was founded on the Arno River, Caesar decided to call it Florence, wanting to honor the comrade-in-arms whom he distinguished among all the others. The Cellini family had many possessions, and even a castle in Ravenna. The ancestors of Benvenuto himself lived in Val d'Ambra, like nobles. One day they had to send the young man Cristofano to Florence because he started a feud with his neighbors. His son Andrea became very knowledgeable in architecture and taught this craft to children. Giovanni, Benvenuto's father, was especially successful in this. Giovanni could have chosen a girl with a rich dowry, but he married for love - Madonna Elisabetta Granacci. They had no children for eighteen years, and then a girl was born. Good Giovanni was no longer expecting a son, and when Madonna Elisabetta was delivered of a male child, the happy father named him “Desired” (Benvenuto). Signs predicted that the boy would have a great future. He was only three years old when he caught a huge scorpion and miraculously survived. At the age of five, he saw an animal that looked like a lizard in the fire's fire, and his father explained that it was a salamander, which he had never seen before in his life. And by the age of fifteen he had accomplished so many amazing deeds that for lack of space it is better to keep silent about them.

Giovanni Cellini was famous for many arts, but most of all he loved to play the flute and tried to get his eldest son interested in this. Benvenuto hated the damned music and took up the instrument only so as not to upset his good father. Having entered the apprenticeship of goldsmith Antonio di Sandro, he surpassed all the other young men in the workshop and began to earn good money from his labors. It so happened that his sisters offended him by secretly giving a new camisole and cloak to his younger brother, and Benvenuto, out of frustration, left Florence for Pisa, but continued to work hard there too. Then he moved to Rome to study antiquities, and made several very beautiful things, trying in everything to follow the canons of the divine Michelangelo Buonarroti, from which he never deviated. Returning to Florence at his father’s urgent request, he amazed everyone with his art, but there were envious people who began to slander him in every possible way. Benvenuto could not restrain himself: he punched one of them in the temple, and since he still did not let up and got into a fight, he brushed him off with a dagger without causing much harm. The relatives of this Gerardo immediately ran to complain to the Council of Eight - Benvenuto was innocently sentenced to exile, and he had to go to Rome again. One noble lady ordered him a frame for a diamond lily. And his comrade Lucagnolo - a capable jeweler, but of a low and vile kind - was carving a vase at that time and boasting that he would receive many gold coins. However, Benvenuto was ahead of the arrogant hillbilly in everything: he was paid much more generously for a trinket than for a large thing, and when he himself undertook to make a vase for a bishop, he surpassed Lucagnolo in this art as well. Pala Clement, as soon as he saw the vase, was inflamed with great love for Benvenuto. The silver jugs that he forged for the famous surgeon Jacomo da Carpi brought him even greater fame: when he showed them, he told stories that they were the work of ancient masters. This little business brought Benvenuto great fame, although he did not gain much in terms of money.

After a terrible pestilence, the survivors began to love each other - this is how a community of sculptors, painters, and jewelers was formed in Rome. And the great Michelangelo from Siena publicly praised Benvenuto for his talent - he especially liked the medal depicting Hercules tearing the mouth of a lion. But then the war began, and the commonwealth fell apart. The Spaniards, led by Bourbon, approached Rome. Pala Clement fled in fear to the Castel Sant'Angelo, and Benvenuto followed him. During the siege, he was assigned to the cannons and accomplished many feats: he killed Bourbon with one well-aimed shot, and wounded the Prince of Orange with the second. It so happened that during the recoil, a barrel of stones fell down and almost killed Cardinal Farnese. Benvenuto had difficulty proving his innocence, although it would have been much better if he had gotten rid of this cardinal at the same time. Pala Clement trusted his jeweler so much that he ordered the gold tiaras to be melted down in order to save them from the greed of the Spaniards. When Benvenuto finally arrived in Florence, there was also a plague there, and his father told him to flee to Mantua. Upon his return, he learned that all his relatives had died - only his younger brother and one of his sisters remained. The brother, who became a great warrior, served with the Florentine Duke Lessandro. In a chance skirmish he was wounded by a bullet from an arquebus and died in the arms of Benvenuto, who tracked down the killer and took due revenge.

Meanwhile, the pope moved to war against Florence, and friends persuaded Benvenuto to leave the city so as not to quarrel with his Holiness. At first everything went well, and Benvenuto was given the position of mace bearer, which brought in two hundred crowns a year. But when he asked for a position of seven hundred crowns, envious people intervened, and the Milanese Pompeo was especially zealous, trying to take away from Benvenuto the cup ordered by the pope. The enemies slipped the useless jeweler Tobbia to the pope, and he was instructed to prepare a gift for the French king. One day Benvenuto accidentally killed his friend, and Pompeo immediately ran to the pope with the news that Tobbia had been killed. The enraged ruler ordered Benvenuto to be captured and hanged, so he had to hide in Naples until everything was clarified. Clement repented of his injustice, but still fell ill and soon died, and Cardinal Farnese was elected pope. Benvenuto completely accidentally met Pompeo, whom he did not want to kill at all, but it just so happened. Slanderers tried to incite the new pope against him, but he said that such artists, one of a kind, are not subject to the law. However, Benvenuto considered it best to retire to Florence for a while, where Duke Lessandro did not want to let him go, even threatening him with death - however, he himself fell victim to a murderer, and Cosimo, the son of the great Giovanni de' Medici, became the new duke. Returning to Rome, Benvenuto discovered that the envious people had achieved their goal - the pope, although he granted him pardon for the murder of Pompeo, turned his heart away from him. Meanwhile, Benvenuto was already so famous that the French king called him into his service.

Together with his faithful students, Benvenuto went to Paris, where he had an audience with the monarch. That, however, was the end of the matter: the insidiousness of the enemies and military operations made staying in France impossible. Benvenuto returned to Rome and received many orders. He had to drive away one worker from Perugia for idleness, and he decided to take revenge: he whispered to the pope that Benvenuto had stolen precious stones during the siege of the Castel Sant'Angelo and now had a fortune of eighty thousand ducats. The greed of Pagolo da Farnese and his son Pier Luigi knew no bounds: they ordered Benvenuto to be imprisoned, and when the accusation fell apart, they decided to kill him. King Francis, having learned about this injustice, began to petition through the Cardinal of Ferrara to have Benvenuto released into his service. The castellan of the castle, a noble and kind man, treated the prisoner with the greatest sympathy: he gave him the opportunity to freely walk around the castle and practice his favorite art. One monk was kept in the casemate. Taking advantage of Benvenuto's mistake, he stole wax from him to make keys and escape. Benvenuto swore by all the saints that he was not to blame for the monk’s malice, but the castellan became so angry that he almost lost his mind. Benvenuto began to prepare to escape and, having arranged everything in the best possible way, went downstairs on a rope woven from sheets. Unfortunately, the wall around the castle was too high, and he fell and broke his leg. The widow of Duke Lessandro, remembering his great works, agreed to give him shelter, but the insidious enemies did not give up and again escorted Benvenuto to prison, despite the pope’s promise to spare him. Castellan, completely crazy, subjected him to such unheard-of torments that he was already saying goodbye to life, but then the Cardinal of Ferrara obtained the pope’s consent to release the innocently convicted man. In prison, Benvenuto wrote a poem about his suffering - with this “capitolo” the first book of memoirs ends.

In the second book, Benvenuto talks about his stay at the court of Francis I and the Florentine Duke Cosimo. Having rested a little after the hardships of imprisonment, Benvenuto went to the Cardinal of Ferrara, taking with him his favorite students - Ascanio, Pagolo the Roman and Pagolo the Florentine. On the way, one postal caretaker decided to start a quarrel, and Benvenuto, just to warn him off, pointed a arquebus at him, but a bullet that ricocheted off killed the insolent man on the spot, and his sons, trying to take revenge, slightly wounded Pagolo the Roman. Having learned about this, the Cardinal of Ferrara thanked heaven, for he promised the French king that he would certainly bring Benvenuto. They reached Paris without incident.

The king received Benvenuto extremely graciously, and this aroused the envy of the cardinal, who began to secretly plot intrigues. He told Benvenuto that the king wanted to give him a salary of three hundred crowns, although for such money it was not worth leaving Rome. Deceived in his expectations, Benvenuto said goodbye to his students, and they cried and asked him not to leave them, but he firmly decided to return to his homeland. However, a messenger was sent after him, and the cardinal announced that he would be paid seven hundred crowns a year - the same as the painter Leonardo da Vinci received. After meeting with the king, Benvenuto gave one hundred crowns to each of the students, and also asked to give him the castle of Little Nel for the workshop. The king readily agreed, since the people living in the castle ate their bread for nothing. Benvenuto had to drive away these slackers, but the workshop turned out great, and he could immediately take on the royal order - a statue of silver Jupiter.

Soon the king and his court came to see the work, and everyone marveled at Benvenuto’s wonderful art. Benvenuto also planned to make for the king a salt shaker of amazing beauty and a magnificent carved door, more beautiful than which these French had never seen. Unfortunately, it did not occur to him to win the favor of Madame de Tampa, who had great influence on the monarch, and she harbored a grudge against him. And the little people whom he expelled from the castle filed a lawsuit against him and annoyed him so much that he waylaid them with a dagger and taught them sense, but did not kill anyone. To top off all the troubles, Pagolo Miccheri, a Florentine student, entered into fornication with his model, Caterina, and had to beat the slut until she was bruised, although she was still needed for work. The traitor Pagolo Benvenuto forced him to marry this French whore, and then every day he called her to his place to draw and sculpt, and at the same time indulged in carnal pleasure with her in revenge on his cuckolded husband. Meanwhile, the Cardinal of Ferrara persuaded the king not to pay money to Benvenuto; the good king could not resist the temptation, because the emperor was moving with his army to Paris and the treasury was empty. Madame de Tampa also continued to plot, and Benvenuto, with pain in his heart, decided to temporarily leave for Italy, leaving the workshop to Ascanio and Pagolo-Roman. They whispered to the king that he had taken three precious vases with him, which was impossible to do, since the law prohibits this, so Benvenuto, at the first request, gave these vases to the traitor Ascanio.

In 1545, Benvenuto came to Florence solely to help his sister and her six daughters. The Duke began to lavish affection, begging him to stay and promising unheard-of favors. Benvenuto agreed and bitterly regretted it. They gave him a miserable little house for his workshop, which he had to patch up on the fly. The court sculptor Bandinello praised his merits in every possible way, although his bad crafts could only cause a grin, but Benvenuto surpassed himself by casting a statue of Perseus in bronze. It was a creation so beautiful that people never tired of marveling at it, and Benvenuto asked the Duke for the work ten thousand crowns, but he reluctantly gave only three. Many times Benvenuto remembered the magnanimous and generous king, with whom he had so frivolously parted, but nothing could be corrected, for the insidious disciples did everything to prevent him from returning. The Duchess, who initially defended Benvenuto to her husband, became terribly angry when the Duke, on his advice, refused to give money for the pearls she liked. Benvenuto suffered solely for his honesty, because he could not hide from the Duke that these stones were not worth buying. As a result, a new large order was received by the mediocre Bandinello, who was given the marble for the statue of Neptune. Misfortunes rained down on Benvenuto from all sides: a man nicknamed Zbietta deceived him in a contract for the sale of the manor, and this Zbietta’s wife poured sublimate into his gravy, so that he barely survived, although he was unable to expose the villains. The Queen of France, visiting her native Florence, wanted to invite him to Paris to sculpt a tombstone for her late husband, but the Duke prevented this. A pestilence began, from which the prince, the best of all the Medici, died. Only when the tears had dried did Benvenuto go to Pisa. (The second book of memoirs ends with this phrase.)

Retold

The life of Benvenuto Cellini is a fascinating illustration of the morals of the late Renaissance. On the one hand, he had an undeniable sense of beauty, on the other, he had a reputation as an unpredictable, headstrong person with a violent temper. Actually, we know about Cellini’s life not so much from the surviving memories of his contemporaries, but from the autobiographical book he wrote in adulthood.

Thus, to Cellini’s artistic talents one can add the gift of writing. And there was something to tell him about, because he carried out the orders of the popes, the French king Francis I, the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo Medici, participated in the defense of besieged Rome, was in prison, repeatedly used his fists and a dagger, and wandered around the cities of Italy for thirty years.

Intrigues, fights and dangerous adventures were Cellini’s constant companions in life, which he colorfully and not without pleasure talks about in his memoirs. However, a very hectic life did not prevent him from trying himself in different types arts: jewelry, embossing, sculpture. However, first things first.

Choosing a path

Benvenuto saw the light of day in the family of the Florentine handyman Giovanni Cellini. Most of all, my father loved to play the flute, and he did it so masterfully that he was invited to the palace orchestra of the ruler of Florence. The ambitious Giovanni seriously dreamed of making his son a famous musician, since Benvenuto had good hearing and a pleasant voice.

But, as often happens, the son was not going to connect his future with the hateful flute. At the age of fifteen, Cellini Benvenuto became an apprentice to the jeweler Antonio di Sandro. He did not have time to complete his studies, because soon, together with his younger brother, he was expelled from Florence for a year and a half for participating in a sword fight.

Without wasting any time, in Siena Benvenuto continued his studies in jewelry making and began independent work. The next important stage in Cellini's life is connected with Rome, but before that he managed to once again appear before the court of Florence on charges of insult. Fleeing from prison, and at the same time from his father’s flute, Benvenuto flees to Rome in 1521.

Papal Rome

At that same time, Pope Clement VII was elected new pontiff in the Vatican. He belonged to the Florentine Medici family, which was always supported by the Cellini family. Arriving in Rome, Benvenuto got a job in the Santi workshop, where they were mainly engaged in chasing vases, candlesticks, jugs, dishes and other household utensils.

Longing for Florence and his father, Benvenuto Cellini began to play the flute, so hated before. He was noticed and invited to join the orchestra, which was supposed to entertain the pontiff with playing during the Summer holiday. Pope Clement noted Benvenuto's playing and took him into his service as a musician.

Ironically, unloved music opened the doors of the most famous houses in Rome for Cellini. Music and another scandal with a Spanish bishop over a vase made by Benvenuto to his order. Thus, Pope Clement VII learned that the musician he had hired was also a talented jeweler and coiner.

Losses and gains

During the brutal sack of Rome by the troops of Emperor Charles V in 1527, Cellini Benvenuto, along with a small garrison of soldiers, defended the besieged Castel Sant'Angelo, where Pope Clement was taking refuge. After the capitulation, he returned briefly to Florence to redeem the court sentence handed down to him 8 years earlier.

A plague epidemic raged in his hometown, claiming the lives of his father and older sister. For the next two years, Cellini alternated between Mantua and Florence, but eventually returned to Rome. Here he did not have to look for orders for long; he was approached by the pontiff himself, who soon appointed Benvenuto to the post of master of the mint.

In May 1529, Cellini experienced a great personal tragedy - the death of his younger brother, killed in a fight. Benvenuto took revenge on the murderer, but Pope Clement VII forgave him the sin of blood feud, since he was a great admirer of his talent. Soon he even granted Cellini’s request, appointing him as his mace-bearer.

The roads of wandering

It would seem good to have a pontiff as a patron, however, having gained the favor of the pope, Benvenuto Cellini also acquired many envious people. To be fair, we note that his quarrelsome character also contributed greatly to the increase in the number of his enemies. Cellini killed one of them, the jeweler Pompeo, with a dagger for insulting him.

After the death of Pope Clement VII, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese was elected pontiff under the name of Paul III. And if the new pope initially favored Cellini, his illegitimate son did everything to deal with the master. Saving his life, Benvenuto flees Rome to his native Florence, where he receives an order from Duke Alessandro, nicknamed the Moor.

When Rome was preparing for the arrival of Emperor Charles V, the pope again remembered Cellini. Together they decided to prepare a gift for an important guest - a golden cross. However, the amount Cellini paid for the work was three times less than promised. The master was offended and in April 1537 he left Rome in search of, as he wrote, another country.

Imprisonment

The first trip to France was unsuccessful. Francis I was preoccupied with the war, although he received Cellini favorably. The goldsmith had to return to Rome. And so, when he finally received the long-awaited invitation from the French king, he was arrested on a false denunciation.

Cellini, seeing that Pope Paul III had finally turned into his enemy, decided to escape from prison, although unsuccessfully. It is unknown how this whole story would have ended for him if Cardinal d'Este had not arrived in Rome from France. In a conversation with the pontiff, he mentioned that King Francis would like to see Benvenuto Cellini as his court jeweler, whose work he really likes.

At that time, the situation in Europe was such that the pontiff chose not to spoil relations with the king of France. Cellini, on his orders, was released from prison, but the master, it seems, was in no hurry. Having left Rome in March 1540, he arrived in Paris only in October.

Court jeweler of Francis I

Cellini Benvenuto spent five years in France. The local order was not to his taste. If in Italy he got away with fights and even murders relatively easily, then in France - a country where legal proceedings were so developed that sometimes the monarch himself was powerless before the decisions of the municipality - Cellini despaired of litigation.

Nevertheless, he does not stop working on orders from the French king. Francis I favored the master, so he provided him with one of his castles, ordering the treasurer not to skimp and to satisfy all the requests of the court jeweler related to the work.

While living in France, Cellini saw how far his native Italy had come in the field of sculpture. For this reason, it was here that he decided to try his hand at a new role for himself - sculpting. His sculptural images, even if they were not masterpieces, still made it possible to talk about Cellini as a sculptor, and not just as a jeweler.

And again Florence

The year was 1545. Florence was ruled by Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, to whom, upon his return from France, Cellini Benvenuto came to pay his respects. The Duke, having learned that the goldsmith was now also engaged in sculpture, ordered him a statue of Perseus.

Bronze Perseus holding the severed head of Medusa, according to Cosimo I, was supposed to symbolize the victory won by the house of Medici over the Republican evil spirits several years ago.

In April 1554, the sculpture was inaugurated, and the ambitious Cellini received great satisfaction from the enthusiastic reaction of the Florentines who filled the square.

At 60, Cellini married his housekeeper Pietra, who bore him five children. IN last years In his entire life, the master made his living by making jewelry, since due to a disagreement with the Duke, he received almost no orders from him.

Benvenuto Cellini died in February 1571 and was buried in his native Florence with great honors, as befits a great master.

Cellini the jeweler

Despite the fact that Cellini was famous among his contemporaries as a goldsmith, only one of his jewelry works has reached us - “Saliera” (salt shaker), a tabletop gold figurine made for King Francis. Today, the value of the 26 cm high salt shaker is estimated at approximately $60 million.

Unfortunately, Cellini's jewelry was lost over the centuries. Over time, owners melted them down to make new, more fashionable gold jewelry, or to survive difficult times, as often happened to dukes and popes.

In addition to the aforementioned salt shaker, medals, shields, seal impressions, and coins stamped by Benvenuto Cellini have also been preserved. These works, as well as descriptions of lost jewelry, give us an idea of high level his skill. He was truly a talented medalist, chaser and jeweler.

Benvenuto Cellini - sculptor

Cellini the sculptor was luckier. In addition to "Perseus", his other sculptures, as well as figurines, have also been preserved small size: “Minerva”, “Narcissus”, “Apollo and Hyacinth”, “Mercury”, “Fear”, “Jupiter”, etc.

According to art critics, they clearly show the emergence of a new style - mannerism. It is characterized by the loss of harmony between the spiritual and the physical, which was inherent in the works of the Renaissance.

The master cast all these sculptures from bronze, only one in his declining years was made from white and black marble. It is not at all similar to the previous works of Benvenuto Cellini. The statue of Jesus Christ today is located in the El Escorial palace-monastery near Madrid.

About myself without false modesty

Cellini's talent manifested itself not only in his work, but also in the field of literature. Shortly before his death, he wrote two treatises devoted to sculpture and goldsmithing. Using them you can study the history of jewelry and foundry during the Renaissance. Not long ago, both treatises were translated into Russian along with Cellini’s sonnets.

However, his other literary work is best known - “The Biography of Benvenuto Cellini”, where the author, following the traditions of his time, does not skimp on praise for himself and his creations. At the age of 58, the master began to dictate to his secretary the first chapters of an autobiographical book and hardly thought that centuries later historians would add his memoirs to the list of sources on Italian history of the 16th century.

Cellini's abbreviated "Life" was published in Naples in 1728, and the full text, corresponding to the author's manuscript, was published in Florence only a hundred years later. Today we have at our disposal a complete translation of Cellini’s memoirs, completed in 1931 by M. Lozinsky.

Back in the 18th century, Cellini’s “Biography” began to be translated in Europe. For example, on German the autobiography of the Florentine Renaissance master was translated by I. Goethe himself. Schiller and Stendhal acknowledged the great influence it had on them. literary creativity book by Benvenuto Cellini.

As already mentioned, the master cast the sculptures from bronze, but marble requires a different approach. For a long time it was believed that Cellini made the crucifixion of Christ from a single piece of marble, until one of Napoleonic vandal soldiers exposed the steel frame by slashing the sculpture’s forearm with a saber.

Cellini’s extraordinary personality attracted A. Dumas, who made him one of the heroes of the novel “Ascanio” (by the way, Ascanio’s student, who came with him from Rome, actually lived in France with the master).

Cellini was a man of a generous soul; he always helped his relatives financially, and after the death of his younger sister, he took upon himself the care of six nieces. Perhaps, from the point of view of modern mentality, Benvenuto was an arrogant braggart prone to unbridled antics, but such were the mores of the time, and his life, full of adventures, was just a reflection of them.

Benvenuto Cellini is an outstanding Italian painter, sculptor, jeweler, warrior and musician dating back to the Renaissance.

Biography of Benvenuto Cellini

He was born on November 3, 1500 in the territory of Florence into the family of a landowner and specialist in the production of musical instruments. Benvenuto was the second child in the family, who was born in the nineteenth year of his parents’ marital relationship.

Despite the fact that the father wanted to see a musician in his son, at the onset of 1513 Benvenuto went to study in the workshop of such a famous jeweler as Brandini. He trained him in variations of artistic influence on metal. From that time on, he often had to take part in various fights that often arose with competing jewelers. It was on this basis that in 1516 and 1523 he was expelled from the city. After wandering throughout Italy in 1524, he settled in Rome, where he gradually began to get closer to the leadership of the Vatican.

Upon the offensive of 1527, he took a direct part in the confrontation with imperial troops and the defense of Rome. After the Romans were defeated, he left the city. He returned to Rome only in 1529. Then Cellini took the position of head of the Pope's mint, where he worked until 1534. In fact, all of his jewelry works dating back to that era, with minor exceptions, could not be preserved, since they were subsequently sent for melting down.

Trying to avenge his brother, in the period from 1531 to 1534, Cellini took the life of a jeweler, and then attacked a notary. These events were the reason for his escape to Naples. Here he again kills another jeweler for his bad remarks towards Cellini at the court of the Pope.

At the onset of 1537, King Francis I accepted him into the service of France, after the execution of the portrait medal. Once again finding himself in Rome, Cellini was arrested on charges of stealing the Pope's jewelry, but managed to escape. The master would not be free for very long - he was again taken into custody, but was soon released.

Beginning in 1540, he lived in Fontainebleau, at the court of the King of France. Here he completed work on a piece of jewelry, which is the only one that has survived to this day and whose authenticity cannot be doubted. This is a large salt cellar of Francis I, created between 1540 and 1543. In France, the master mastered the technique of bronze casting, and from that period he began to carry out serious sculptural orders.

In the period from 1545 to 1553, Cellini served in Florence to Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, where he was able to create his well-known statue of Perseus, who holds the head belonging to Medusa-Gargon. Here he also performed some other sculptural works. In these places he was engaged in the restoration of works of the ancient period.

Cellini was once again imprisoned in 1556 for starting a fight with a goldsmith.

The Crucifixion can be considered his last monumental work. While under house arrest, the author began writing his autobiography, which became a real pearl of his creative activity.

The sculptor died in Florence on February 13, 1571; he was buried with impressive honors on the territory of the Church of the Annunciation.

Creation

The work “The Life of Benvenuto, who is the son of the maestro, Florentine, Giovanni Cellini, written by himself in Florence”, without exaggeration, stands out as the most remarkable literary work XVI century. He began writing Benvenuto Cellini's autobiography in 1558, but the fundamental part of the manuscript was written by a 14-year-old boy, Cellini's secretary, and another number of pages were completed by another scribe. The chronicle ends in 1562. Already in the 18th century, having overcome a huge number of different adventures, the work disappeared without a trace. In 1805, it was found in a bookstore in Florence and transferred to the Laurentian Library, where it is kept to this day. The first version of the printed edition was published in 1728 in Naples.

The life of Benvenuto Cellini is described in a manner of literary narration that can be called popular, which differs from the works “Confessions of Rousseau” or “Confessions of St. Augustine.” On the pages of his own work, Benvenuto did not express any new ideas. He described his adventures, feelings and thoughts with a frankness that was not typical for the autobiographical genre of the previous time, and he did this as a rich colloquial language that quite convincingly conveys a person’s experiences and the process of his mental activity.

Cellini was highly regarded by his contemporaries as a craftsman, but with regard to his artistic talent, opinions differed radically. Meanwhile, despite this fact, it was he who represented the world of sculptors at the solemn burial ceremony of Michelangelo. Vasari and Varchi spoke with particular delight regarding his talent for jewelry. In particular, Vasari wrote that Cellini is an unsurpassed master of medal art, who surpassed the masters of antiquity. Also from Visari's point of view, he was the greatest jeweler of his time and simply a wonderful sculptor. Of his works related to the art of jewelry, only a few were preserved: the salt shaker of Francis I, coins and medals created for Alexander de Medici and Pope Clement VII. In addition, sketches of the fastener for the robes of Clement VII have been preserved.

In the history of art, Cellini's place is determined, first of all, by his activities in the sculptural aspect. His work had an indelible influence on the development of mannerism. The most significant work that he created in France is the bronze relief of the Nymph of Fontainebleau. Of those works that were destined to survive, and executed after returning to Florence, the figurine of the Greyhound (1545-1546), Perseus (1545-1553), Ganymede (1548-1550), bust of Cosimo de' Medici (1545-1548), Hyacinth and Apollo, Narcissus, “Crucifixion”, Bindo Altoviti - bust.

Viktor Shklovsky, in his book “The Hamburg Account,” writes: “In his own autobiography, Cellini talks about how dad ordered an expensive piece of jewelry in which a diamond was to be encrusted. Each of the competing masters made all kinds of figures and inserted a stone among them. And only Cellini thought of tying the diamond into a composition with a motivation. From this stone he made a throne for Father God, carved in relief.”

Alexandre Dumas was particularly inspired by Cellini's autobiography to create such a novel as "Ascanio", which describes the period of Cellini's life in France, where Dumas the father successfully interweaves the love story of the apprentice Ascanio with the daughter of the Provost of Paris, Colombe.

Please note that the biography of Cellini Benvenuto presents the most important moments from his life. This biography may omit some minor life events.

Benvenuto Cellini (Italian: Benvenuto Cellini; November 3, 1500 (15001103), Florence - February 13, 1571, Florence) - Italian sculptor, jeweler, painter, warrior and musician of the Renaissance.

Cellini was born on November 3, 1500 in Florence, the son of landowner and musical instrument maker Giovanni Cellini (the son of a mason) and Maria Lisabetta Grinacci. Benvenuto was the second child in the family, born in the nineteenth year of his parents’ marriage.

Despite the wishes of his father, who wanted his son to become a musician, Benvenuto in 1513 became an apprentice in the workshop of the jeweler Brandini, where he learned the techniques of artistic metal processing. From these years he began to participate in many fights, especially with other jewelers, which is why in 1516 and 1523 he was expelled from hometown. After wandering around Italy, he settled in Rome in 1524, where he became close to the top of the Vatican.

In 1527 he took part in the defense of Rome from imperial troops. After the defeat of the Romans he left the city. In 1529 he returned to Rome and received the post of head of the papal mint, which he held until 1534. All of his jewelry from that era (with the exception of a few medals) did not survive - they were later melted down.

Avenging his brother, in 1531-1534 Cellini killed a jeweler, then attacked a notary, after which he fled to Naples, where he again took the life of another jeweler for speaking ill of Cellini at the papal court.

In 1537 he was accepted into the French service by King Francis I, receiving his portrait medal. Once again in Rome, Cellini was arrested and accused of stealing papal jewelry, but he was able to escape again. The master did not remain free for long: he was again taken into custody and, however, was later released.

From 1540 he lived at the French royal court in Fontainebleau, where he completed work on the only piece of jewelry that has come down to us, the authenticity of which is beyond doubt - the large salt shaker of Francis I (1540-1543).

In France, the master mastered the technique of bronze casting and from that time began to carry out large sculptural orders. From 1545 to 1553, Cellini was in the service of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici in Florence, where he created the famous statue of Perseus holding the head of the Gorgon Medusa. Here he executed a number of other sculptures and restored ancient works. Cellini’s active participation in the local academic movement deserves special attention. From 1545 to 1547, he became involved in the activities of the newly founded Florentine Academy, the intellectual life of which was reflected both in his lyrics and in his autobiography and treatises (Cellini called the academy a “wonderful school”).

In 1556, Cellini was again imprisoned for a fight with a goldsmith. His last significant monumental work was The Crucifixion. Under house arrest, the master began writing an autobiography, which became the pearl of his work.

The sculptor died on February 13, 1571 in his native Florence. He was buried with great honors in the Church of the Annunciation.

The book “The Life of Benvenuto, son of Maestro Giovanni Cellini, Florentine, written by himself in Florence” is one of the most remarkable works of literature of the 16th century. Benvenuto Cellini began writing his autobiography in 1558. Paolo Rossi demonstrates that the final version of the manuscript (bella copia), presumably intended for distribution among the sculptor's friends and colleagues and written by the hand of a 14-year-old boy, Cellini's secretary, differed significantly from the draft, which contained extensive edits. When creating the latter, the author most likely used various diary entries, which at that time were kept not only by people of art, but also, for example, by merchants. The chronicle of the events of Life reaches 1562. In the 18th century, after various adventures, the manuscript disappeared. In 1805, it was found in one of the bookstores in Florence and transferred to the Laurentian Library, where it remains to this day. The first printed edition appeared in Naples in 1728.

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Benvenuto Cellini is a renowned Mannerist sculptor of his time, jeweler, musician and writer. He described his work in his famous autobiography. He is now considered by art historians to be one of the iconic sculptors of the Renaissance, and the statue of Perseus with the Head of Medusa has taken its rightful place among the great masterpieces of 16th-century Florentine art. Cellini also wrote a number of technical books on the subject visual arts and sculptures.

The master’s work can be divided into three main periods:

• 1500–1540 - work as a jeweler;
• 1540–1545 - work under the patronage of King Francis I, in Fontainebleau;
• The master devotes the rest of his life to creating large-scale sculptures.

Benvenuto was the second child in the family of master Giovanni Cellini, who created various musical instruments. IN at a young age Contrary to his father's hopes, he took up jewelry making. After a series of moves, at the age of 19, the young master, already attracting attention with his abilities, ends up in Rome.

Rome

Little is known about Cellini's early career in Rome. He practiced his craft in various workshops. It is known that Cellini created a number of valuable works during that period, including a silver casket, decorative candlesticks, and a vase for the Bishop of Salamanca. Last work attracts the attention of Pope Clement VII. From 1529 to 1537, Benvenuto becomes involved in a number of incidents and fights, but papal intervention helps him avoid punishment. Unfortunately, none of Cellini's works from that time have survived to this day. At the same time, Cellini creates a number of medallions, among which the following are worth noting: “Leda and the Swan”, “Hercules and the Lion”, various stamps and papal coinage.

Leda and the Swan

France

At the end of the 1530s, Cellini moved to France, where he worked at the court of Francis I in Paris. It was there that the master created his famous Salier salt cellar (1540–1543, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), made of gold, decorated with enamel and ebony. The complex character and explosive temperament of the artist again become the reason for his numerous enemies, and a few years later he is forced to leave France and go to Florence.

Bust of Cosimo I

The statue of Perseus marked the zenith of Cellini's career as an artist. Three years later, in 1557, the master was sentenced to four years in prison for affray. In prison, Benvenuto writes books and continues to work on his autobiography. At the age of 70, the unmarried master, who, however, had many children, died and was buried with honors in Florence.

Benvenuto Cellini. Life and art. updated: September 16, 2017 by: Gleb