Cellini Gold Salt Cellar

1515 1547 ce now in vienna.

Cellini gold salt cellar. Cellini made the thing of gold enamel and ivory between 1540 and 1544 on commission for the king of france. I t is one of the world s greatest renaissance artefacts an extraordinary gold plated saltcellar by the florentine genius benvenuto cellini. Benvenuto cellini 1500 1571 ce was an italian renaissance sculptor medallist and goldsmith whose most famous works today include the bronze statue of perseus holding the head of medusa which now stands in florence and a magnificent gold salt cellar made for francis i of france r. The saliera of rolled gold was created by cellini for francis i of france between 1540 and 1543.

Its right side has a man with a trident and a ship symbolizing water while its left side has a woman representing the earth. But for nearly three years the austrian police had no. His bombastic autobiography the vita in which he confesses to multiple murders and a spectacular jailbreak and for his salt cellar yes that s right a dish for salt. Cellini s philosophy is summed up in the proverb.

Sculptor benvenuto cellini is best remembered for two things. Had he lived today he might have been a genius tech entrepreneur. From his descendant charles ix it passed to archduke ferdinand ii. Let s start with the autobiography.

And then there was the saltcellar. The cellar is the only remaining work of precious metal which can be reliably attributed to cellini. A miss is as good as a mile xviii on the morning which followed these events i made the first step in my work upon the great salt cellar pressing this and my other pieces forward with incessant industry. The saltcellar shows an allegory of the earth and the interplay of land and sea.

Benvenuto cellini was more than the maker of the world s most expensive saltshaker the cellini salt cellar a goldsmith draftsman author musician soldier and one of the most important sculptors of italian mannerism cellini was also a ruffian who was jailed several times and confessed to three murders. 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 for francis i of france from models that had been prepared many years earlier for cardinal ippolito d este. The saliera is the only work of gold which can be attributed to cellini with certainty and is sometimes referred to as the mona lisa of sculpture. Gardner summarizes it perfectly in the sixteenth century journal.