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. ( )

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! ( )

This story of a man 500 years dead is burgeoning with life. Benvenuto Cellini is not so well known for his artistry today as Leonardo or Michaelangelo, but he was close to their echelon. It is primarily his autobiography that secured him lasting fame. He was a goldsmith in Florence and Rome, and a master of several related fields besides. The products of supreme artists in this period made a splash comparable to a blockbuster Hollywood movie or top-earning concert today, and Cellini pleased his audiences without fail.

It seems at that time it was nothing to settle one's differences by violence in the street, preferably in front of witnesses who could attest it had been a matter of honour. Benvenuto was not one to stand down from a confrontation with anyone, not even a pope or duke whose favour he enjoyed, if pride was on the line. Unfortunately he could not apply that solution to contractors, who could be as frustrating then as now to deal with, "like shouting at a collection of lame donkeys led by a blind boy", or to the many others who took advantage of him, often including his patrons.

Interspersed scenes like the necromancy at the colosseum cast a shade of doubt over some of the proceedings. I wish a stronger shade of doubt could be cast over his confessed treatment of women and underage girls. Otherwise the degree of detail with which he recalls a sequence of events, or the conversations he had and the places he went, is astounding. My edition's footnotes back up a enormous amount of it. There's not a chapter break to be seen and it reads like one single unrolling memory, life as story, suitably ending as if only pausing for breath. ( )