Benvenuto Cellini  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
Revision as of 09:16, 17 August 2007
WikiSysop (Talk | contribs)

← Previous diff
Revision as of 00:10, 22 December 2009
Jahsonic (Talk | contribs)

Next diff →
Line 2: Line 2:
'''Benvenuto Cellini''' ([[November 3]], [[1500]] – [[February 13]], [[1571]]) was an [[Italy|Italian]] [[goldsmith]], [[painter]], [[sculpture|sculptor]], [[soldier]] and [[musician]] of the [[Renaissance]]. '''Benvenuto Cellini''' ([[November 3]], [[1500]] – [[February 13]], [[1571]]) was an [[Italy|Italian]] [[goldsmith]], [[painter]], [[sculpture|sculptor]], [[soldier]] and [[musician]] of the [[Renaissance]].
-[[Cellini's autobiography]], written in [[Florence]] beginning in [[1558]], also has much in common with a [[picaresque novel]].+Not less characteristic of its splendidly gifted and barbarically untameable author are the [[picaresque]] [[Cellini's autobiography|autobiographical memoir]]s 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.
 +==Personal relationships==
-== Cellini in literature ==+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.
-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:+
-:"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.+Outside his marriage, Cellini was officially charged or accused three times with homosexual [[sodomy]] and once with heterosexual.
-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. +*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.
-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).+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."
-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.+==="Oh, fool, you're wrong"===
 +When the Italian sculptor [[Cellini]] was accused of [[sodomy]] by a rival, he retorted
-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+:"Oh, fool, you're wrong: but would God I knew how to practice such a noble art, since one reads that [[Jove]] used it with [[Ganymede]] in paradise, and here on earth the greatest emperors and kings in the world use it." ([[Roche]], [[Forbidden Friendships]], 136).
- +
-Cellini's autobiography is also one of the book's [[Tom Sawyer]] mentions as inspiration while freeing Jim in [[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]].+
{{GFDL}} {{GFDL}}

Revision as of 00:10, 22 December 2009

Related e

Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Shop


Featured:

Benvenuto Cellini (November 3, 1500February 13, 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, painter, sculptor, soldier and musician of the Renaissance.

Not less characteristic of its splendidly gifted and barbarically untameable author are the picaresque 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.

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."

"Oh, fool, you're wrong"

When the Italian sculptor Cellini was accused of sodomy by a rival, he retorted

"Oh, fool, you're wrong: but would God I knew how to practice such a noble art, since one reads that Jove used it with Ganymede in paradise, and here on earth the greatest emperors and kings in the world use it." (Roche, Forbidden Friendships, 136).




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.

Personal tools