What a raucous soap opera this book was! Cellini is best known as being a master goldsmith as well as a sculptor. His first noted great work was a silver salt cellar for the King of France. Cellini was a juvenile delinquent from the age of 12 when he roamed the streets of Florence. His parents were musicians and tried to reign him in and apprentice him to musicians, but he rebelled, and he was finally apprenticed to a goldsmith. He didn't like the instruction so at age 19 he ran away to Rome. While there he found an old friend who lent him a workspace and gave him a piece of silver which began his career. Cellini tells fantastic stories, although I'm not sure all are believable. According to his own writings, he took part in the sack of Rome in 1527, was sued four times for sodomy, and committed murder several times. He writes that he found those who sued him and "stabbed him so badly in the arms and the legs, that he would not be mobile again." He sought out the second subject for the same, but as the man repented during the stabbing, Cellini did not injure him as badly. Cellini also believed he could conjure up devils to do his bidding. He was imprisoned several times while in Rome and believed that he had a halo around his head indicating divine protection. Eventually, he was exiled from Rome and returned to Florence where Cosimo Medici became his patron. Per his own story, Cellini was quite a narcissist who exploited almost everyone with which he came into contact. 465 pages ( )

I remember more than anything else the ego of Cellini. ( )

When you get a first-person account from 500 years ago, you really hope to read about details of everyday life, what people ate, where they lived, what they wore..

but of course those are not the things people think to record, nor it is it Cellini's intent to record the minutiae of every day life.. Instead, this is Cellini's attempt to set the record straight against anyone who he feels hard done by , i.e. everyone. He is constantly mortally offended, and takes revenge, occasionally violently. He destroys the bedding in an inn after the landlord has the temerity to ask him to pay up front.

There were some puzzling medical mysteries that I wish some one should shed some light on. The governor of the prison has a complaint where he is convinced he is a bottle of oil, and then a bat. This sis the same prison where Cellini has a series of religious visions, so perhaps there is something in the water?


It is an authentic voice from the past, and you don't have to like him.He probably doesn't like you ,anyway. ( )

Orfebre, escultor y grabador, artífice de obras como el magnífico Perseo que puede contemplarse en la plaza de la Signoria de Florencia o el célebre y primoroso "salero de Francisco I" hoy en Viena, Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) fue una figura destacada en una época de titanes: aquel Renacimiento italiano tan espléndido y suntuoso como primario y feroz, que poblaron personalidades como Miguel Ángel y Rafael, papas soberbios y familias legendarias como los Médicis. Hombre de carácter decidido y aventurero, pendenciero e irascible, dejó en su apasionante "Vida" un insuperable y vivo retrato de primera mano de un temperamento excepcional en una época excepcional, el Cinquecento, en la que el pleno Renacimiento fue dando paso a una Europa que se adentraba en el Barroco y la Contrarreforma. Episodios memorables como el de los espíritus del Coliseo o la narración del saco de Roma, sus prisiones en el castillo de Sant'Angelo, las peripecias por Francia bajo la protección de Francisco I o la desesperada fundición del "Perseo", hacen de esta autobiografía un libro inolvidable y un inmejorable compañero de viaje para todo aquel que quiera evocar siglos más tarde sus andanzas a caballo entre Roma y Florencia. ( )

A more or less linear, tale-by-tale recounting of Cellini's life.

Look, you will either love this book because it gives a glimpse into life in the late Italian Renaissance, through the eyes of an extremely colorful character whose personality takes center stage, or you will dislike it for being repetitive, one-sided, and possibly offensive to modern sensibilities.

The typical story in this memoir involves someone becoming jealous of Cellini's immense talents, and using their influence to turn powerful people (multiple Popes, a handful of different Cardinals, the King of France, etc.) against him. Usually, Cellini's innate morality will, by the grace of God, prove him innocent. Occasionally, he will be thrown in prison, flee the city, or murder his enemy in cold blood. According to the man himself, everyone is out to get him, and only his virtue, bravery, and sheer genius keep him going. In no case will Cellini admit to a fault, or stop to wonder why this kind of thing seems to happen to him so often.

Treating him as a character in a story, I found Cellini's self-aggrandizement and lack of self-awareness funny, though in real life he'd probably be insufferable! ( )