Showing results by author "Benvenuto Cellini" in All Categories

Master Italian sculptor, goldsmith, and writer Benvenuto Cellini is best remembered for his magnificent autobiography. In this work, which was actually begun in 1558 but not published until 1730, Cellini beautifully chronicles his flamboyant times. He tells of his adventures in Italy and France, and his relations with popes, kings, and fellow artists.

Cellini's autobiographical memoirs, which he began writing in Florence in 1558, give a detailed account of his singular career, as well as his loves, hatreds, passions, and delights, written in an energetic, direct, and racy style. They show a great self-regard and self-assertion, sometimes running into extravagances which are impossible to credit. He even writes in a complacent way of how he contemplated his murders before carrying them out. He writes of his time in Paris:Parts of his tale recount some extraordinary events and phenomena; such as his stories of conjuring up a legion of devils ...

Der Bildhauer und Goldschmied Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) erzählt in diesem Werk sein Leben. Er berichtet über seine Kindheit und Jugend, über seine Laufbahn zuerst als Hornist, dann als Goldschmied und Bildhauer, über seine Freunde und Arbeitgeber, insbesondere dem Papst und dem König von Frankreich und schließlich auch über seine Gefangenschaft. Florenz, Rom und Paris waren sein Zuhause. Seine Hauptwerke waren das berühmte "Salzfass" und der "Perseus". 1728 gab es die erste Druckausgabe in italienischer Sprache. Die von Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ins Deutsche übersetzte Ausgabe mit einem von ihm verfassten Vorwort erschien im Jahr 1798.