In the same Academy there are also many excellent craftsmen who are
strangers, of whom we have spoken at length in various places above; and
therefore it shall suffice here to make known their names, to the end
that they may be numbered in this part among the other Academicians.
These, then, are Federigo Zucchero; Prospero Fontana and Lorenzo
Sabatini, of Bologna; Marco da Faenza, Tiziano Vecelli, Paolo Veronese,
Giuseppe Salviati, Tintoretto, Alessandro Vittoria, the sculptor Danese,
the painter Battista Farinato of Verona, and the architect Andrea
Palladio.
Now, to say something also of the sculptors in our Academy and of their
works, although I do not intend to speak of them at any length, because
they are alive and for the most part most illustrious in name and fame,
I say that Benvenuto Cellini, a citizen of Florence, who is now a
sculptor (to begin with the oldest and most honoured), had no peer in
his youth when he was a goldsmith, nor perhaps had he for many years any
equal in that profession and in making most beautiful figures in the
round and in low-relief, and all the other works of that craft. He set
jewels, and adorned them with marvellous collets and with little figures
so well wrought, and at times so bizarre and fantastic that it is not
possible to imagine anything finer or better. And the medals that he
made in his youth, of silver and gold, were executed with incredible
diligence, nor can they ever be praised enough. He made in Rome for Pope
Clement VII a very beautiful morse for a pluvial, setting in it
excellently well a pointed diamond surrounded by some children made of
gold plate, and a God the Father marvellously wrought; wherefore,
besides his payment, he received as a gift from that Pope an office of
mace-bearer. Being then commissioned by the same Pontiff to make a
chalice of gold, the cup of which was to be supported by figures
representing the Theological Virtues, he carried it near completion with
most marvellous artistry. In these same times there was no one who made
the medals of that Pope better than he did, among the many who essayed
it, as those well know who saw his medals and possess them; and since
for these reasons he received the charge of making the dies for the Mint
of Rome, no more beautiful coins have ever been seen than were struck in
Rome at that time. Wherefore Benvenuto, after the death of Clement,
having returned to Florence, likewise made dies with the head of Duke
Alessandro for the coins of the Mint of Florence, so beautiful and
wrought with such diligence, that some of them are now preserved as if
they were most beautiful antique medals, and that rightly, for the
reason that in these he surpassed himself. Having finally given himself
to sculpture and to the work of casting, Benvenuto executed in France
many works in bronze, silver, and gold, while he was in the service of
King Francis in that kingdom. Then, having returned to his own country
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account