X-Nico

11 unusual facts about Benvenuto Cellini


Ascanio

Saint-Saëns chose the subject of the historical figure of Benvenuto Cellini largely due to his friendship with Meurice who, in addition to writing the play about Cellini, also helped Dumas write the 1843 novel.

The name was changed to Ascanio to avoid confusion with the Berlioz opera Benvenuto Cellini.

It opera concerns the historical figure of 16th-century Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini during the time he spent at the court of François I in Fontainebleau and Paris.

Benvenuto

Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), Italian goldsmith, painter, sculptor, soldier and musician

Charles III, Duke of Bourbon

The death of Duke Charles — the artist and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini claimed that he fired the shot that killed him — outside the walls removed the last restraints from the army, which resulted in the sack of Rome.

Francis 1st

His goal was to create a pattern that eclipsed the splendid Renaissance-Baroque metalwork of Benvenuto Cellini, court artist and sculptor in the court of King Francis I who ascended the French throne in 1515.

Orfeo Boselli

One, well known, is Benvenuto Cellini's Trattato dell'Oreficeria e della Scultura, 1568.

Papal bull

In 1535 the Florentine engraver Benvenuto Cellini was paid 50 scutes to recreate the metal matrix which would be used to impress the lead bulls of the Pope Paul III.

Sidney J. A. Churchill

He wrote many books, particularly on Italian goldsmiths, in both English and Italian, one of them co-authored by goldsmith and artist Benvenuto Cellini.

The Firebrand of Florence

Sculptor Benvenuto Cellini has been sentenced to hang for the attempted murder of Count Maffio ("When the Bell of Doom is Clanging").

Vidus Vidius

While in Paris, Guido Guidi befriended artist Benvenuto Cellini and published a book on surgery, Chirurgia, in 1544.


Castel Sant'Angelo

The fortress was the refuge of Pope Clement VII from the siege of Charles V's Landsknechte during the Sack of Rome (1527), in which Benvenuto Cellini describes strolling the ramparts and shooting enemy soldiers.

Giovanni Battista Cipriani

Capriani made some engravings, including "The Death of Cleopatra," after Benvenuto Cellini; "The Descent of the Holy Ghost," after Gabbiani; and portraits for Thomas Hollis's memoirs, 1780.

Jane Berbié

Other roles included several in L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (under Maazel in 1961 and Ozawa in 1979 at the Opéra de Paris), Gontran in Une éducation manquée (1965), Roméo et Juliette, Ascanio in Benvenuto Cellini, and many opérettes.

Mannerism

Benvenuto Cellini created the Cellini Salt Cellar of gold and enamel in 1540 featuring Poseidon and Amphitrite (water and earth) placed in uncomfortable positions and with elongated proportions.

The Spirit Ring

The Spirit Ring is loosely based on Agricola's De re metallica, as well as on a folk tale, and the life of Benvenuto Cellini, as is explained in the Author's Notes that follow the last chapter.

Ulisse Cambi

From 1840s on he realised several important artworks such as the statues of Benvenuto Cellini and Carlo Goldoni (both in Florence) and the monumental fountain located in Prato (Piazza Duomo).