Benvenuto Cellini
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| + | "Yet would to God that I understood [[homosexuality|so noble an art as you allude to]]; they say that [[Jove]] used it with [[Ganymede]] in paradise, and here upon this earth it is practised by some of the greatest emperors and kings."--''[[The Life of Benvenuto Cellini]]'' (1896) by Benvenuto Cellini | ||
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| - | '''Benvenuto Cellini''' ([[November 3]], [[1500]] – [[February 13]], [[1571]]) was an [[Italy|Italian]] [[goldsmith]], [[painter]], [[sculpture|sculptor]], [[soldier]] and [[musician]] of the [[Renaissance]]. | + | '''Benvenuto Cellini''' (1500 – 1571) was an [[Italian artist]] of the [[Renaissance]]. |
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| - | The [[autobiography]] of Cellini, written in [[Florence]] beginning in [[1558]], also has much in common with the picaresque. | + | |
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| - | == Cellini in literature == | + | |
| - | Not less characteristic of its splendidly gifted and barbarically untameable author are the [[autobiography|autobiographical]] memoirs which he composed, beginning them in Florence in [[1558]] — a production of the utmost energy, directness and racy animation, setting forth one of the most singular careers in all the annals of fine art. His amours and hatreds, his passions and delights, his love of the sumptuous and the exquisite in [[art]], his self-applause and self-assertion, running now and again into extravagances which it is impossible to credit, and difficult to set down as strictly conscious falsehoods, make this one of the most singular and fascinating books in existence. | + | |
| - | Cellini not only writes of the strange and varied adventures of which we have presented a hasty sketch, but of the devout complacency with which Cellini could contemplate a satisfactorily achieved homicide. He writes of his time in Paris: | + | |
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| - | :"When certain decisions of the court were sent me by those lawyers, and I perceived that my cause had been unjustly lost, I had recourse for my defense to a great dagger I carried; for I have always taken pleasure in keeping fine weapons. The first man I attacked was a plaintiff who had sued me; and one evening I wounded him in the legs and arms so severely, taking care, however, not to kill him, that I deprived him of the use of both his legs. Then I sought out the other fellow who had brought the suit, and used him also such wise that he dropped it. --Chapter XXVIII, '''The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini''', as translated by John Addington Symonds, Dolphin Books edition, 1961. | + | |
| - | There are parts of his tale that are clearly outright falsehoods, such as the legion of devils which he and a conjurer evoked in the [[Colosseum]], after one of his not innumerous mistresses had been spirited away from him by her mother; of the marvelous halo of light which he found surrounding his head at dawn and twilight after his Roman imprisonment, and his supernatural visions and angelic protection during that adversity; and of his being poisoned on two separate occasions. If he is unmeasured in abusing some people, he is also unlimited in praising others. | + | His best-known extant works include the ''[[Cellini Salt Cellar]]'', the sculpture of ''[[Perseus with the Head of Medusa (Cellini) |Perseus with the Head of Medusa]]'', and his [[picaresque]] [[Cellini's autobiography|autobiography]]. |
| - | The autobiography has been translated into English by Thomas Roscoe, by [[John Addington Symonds]], and by A. Macdonald. It has been considered and published as a classic, and commonly regarded as one of the most colourful autobiographies (certainly the most important autobiography from the Renaissance). Cellini also wrote treatises on the goldsmith's art, on sculpture, and on design (translated by C. R. Ashbee, 1899). | + | ==Personal relationships== |
| - | The life of Cellini also inspired the popular French author [[Alexandre Dumas, père]]. Dumas, an author of numerous [[historical novel]]s wrote [[Ascanio]], which was based on Cellini's life. The novel focuses on several years during Cellini's stay in France, working for Francis. The book is also centred around Ascanio, an apprentice of Cellini. The famous scheming, plot twists and intrigue that made Dumas famous feature in the novel, in this case involving, Cellini, the duchesse d'Etampes and other members of the court. Cellini is portrayed as a passionate and troubled man, plagued by the inconsistencies of life under the "patronage" of a false and somewhat cynical court. | + | Cellini is known to have taken some of his female models as mistresses, having an illegitimate daughter in 1544 with one of them while living in France, whom he named Costanza. After briefly attempting a clerical career, in 1562, he married a servant, Piera Parigi, with whom he claimed he had five children, of which only a son and two daughters survived him. |
| - | In addition to the opera by Berlioz, Cellini was also the subject of a [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[Musical theatre|musical]], ''The Firebrand of Florence'', by [[Ira Gershwin]] and [[Kurt Weill]], which featured [[Lotte Lenya]] (Mrs. Weill) as one of the sculptor's royal conquests. The show, unfortunately, was not a hit, and only ran for a month on Broadway, although some of its songs are periodically revived. It marked the last major collaboration between Weill and Gershwin, whose collaboration was best known for the classic ''Lady in the Dark'' (1941). | + | Outside his marriage, Cellini was officially charged or accused three times with homosexual [[sodomy]] and once with heterosexual. |
| - | [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=1687] | + | |
| - | Cellini's autobiography is also one of the book's [[Tom Sawyer]] mentions as inspiration while freeing Jim in [[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]. | + | *14 January 1523 he was sentenced to pay 12 staia of flour for relations with a boy named Domenico di ser Giuliano da Ripa. |
| + | *While in Paris, a former model and lover brought charges against him of using her "after the Italian fashion." | ||
| + | *In Florence in 1548, Cellini was accused by a woman named Margherita, for having certain familiarities with her son, Vincenzo. | ||
| + | *26 February 1556, his apprentice Fernando di Giovanni di Montepulciano accused his mentor of having sodomised him many times. This time the penalty was a hefty fifty golden scudi fine, and four years of prison, remitted to four years of house arrest thanks to the intercession of the [[Medici]]s. | ||
| + | Towards the end of his life during a public altercation before Duke Cosimo, [[Bandinelli]] had called out to him ''Sta cheto, soddomitaccio!'' (Shut up, you filthy sodomite!) Cellini qualified it an "atrocious insult." | ||
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"Yet would to God that I understood so noble an art as you allude to; they say that Jove used it with Ganymede in paradise, and here upon this earth it is practised by some of the greatest emperors and kings."--The Life of Benvenuto Cellini (1896) by Benvenuto Cellini |
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Benvenuto Cellini (1500 – 1571) was an Italian artist of the Renaissance.
His best-known extant works include the Cellini Salt Cellar, the sculpture of Perseus with the Head of Medusa, and his picaresque autobiography.
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Personal relationships
Cellini is known to have taken some of his female models as mistresses, having an illegitimate daughter in 1544 with one of them while living in France, whom he named Costanza. After briefly attempting a clerical career, in 1562, he married a servant, Piera Parigi, with whom he claimed he had five children, of which only a son and two daughters survived him.
Outside his marriage, Cellini was officially charged or accused three times with homosexual sodomy and once with heterosexual.
- 14 January 1523 he was sentenced to pay 12 staia of flour for relations with a boy named Domenico di ser Giuliano da Ripa.
- While in Paris, a former model and lover brought charges against him of using her "after the Italian fashion."
- In Florence in 1548, Cellini was accused by a woman named Margherita, for having certain familiarities with her son, Vincenzo.
- 26 February 1556, his apprentice Fernando di Giovanni di Montepulciano accused his mentor of having sodomised him many times. This time the penalty was a hefty fifty golden scudi fine, and four years of prison, remitted to four years of house arrest thanks to the intercession of the Medicis.
Towards the end of his life during a public altercation before Duke Cosimo, Bandinelli had called out to him Sta cheto, soddomitaccio! (Shut up, you filthy sodomite!) Cellini qualified it an "atrocious insult."
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Benvenuto Cellini" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
