Cellini Gold Salt Cellar

Cellini made the thing of gold enamel and ivory between 1540 and 1544 on commission for the king of france.

Cellini gold salt cellar.

Its right side has a man with a trident and a ship symbolizing water while its left side has a woman representing the earth. 1515 1547 ce now in vienna. Sculptor benvenuto cellini is best remembered for two things. Cellini s philosophy is summed up in the proverb.

Although the surviving body of cellini s work is surprisingly small he. The saltcellar shows an allegory of the earth and the interplay of land and sea. The cellar is the only remaining work of precious metal which can be reliably attributed to cellini. 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.

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. And then there was the saltcellar. 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.

The saliera of rolled gold was created by cellini for francis i of france between 1540 and 1543. From his descendant charles ix it passed to archduke ferdinand ii. I t is one of the world s greatest renaissance artefacts an extraordinary gold plated saltcellar by the florentine genius benvenuto 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.

Perhaps one of cellini s most famous works is the cellini salt cellar in vienna called the saliera italian for salt cellar a partly enameled gold table sculpture by benvenuto cellini. Had he lived today he might have been a genius tech entrepreneur. Let s start with the autobiography. 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.