The Autobiography Of Benevenuto Cellini by Benvenuto CelliniMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was drawn to this by Mark Twain's extolling it as one of the greatest autobiographies. It is wide in scope and thus widely quoted; I just saw it quoted in Lady Chatterley's Lover. Well, Cellini is a lusty fellow; swordplay, maidens, and goldsmithing seem to be his fusion of both Narcissus and Goldmund. His father exhorted him to continue his flute play, he continued his statuary. This sort of builds to the details around and funding in this royal patronage era of his great work Perseus with the Head of Medusa. Lots of popes, cardinals, dukes, and princes are his named colleagues and customers, whether he is making a salt cellar or operating artillery. Seems many, including Twain, have been gullible of his fire-dwelling salamanders, human hair balls, and necromancy. Cellini sure could tell a story and the translator bravely interjects with clarifying footnotes. I would liked to have more of a historian's context as well as pictures of his craft.
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