service of Francis I., many works in bronze, silver, and in gold. Returning to his native country, he was employed by the Duke Cosmo de Medicis, who at once required of him several works in jewellery, and afterwards some sculptures.” Thus, Benvenuto is at the same time goldsmith (Fig. 104), engraver in medals, and sculptor, and he excels in these three branches of the art, as the productions which have survived him attest. Nevertheless, unfortunately, the greater part of his works in the goldsmith’s art have been destroyed, or are now confounded with those of his contemporaries, upon whom Italian taste, combined with his original genius, had exercised a powerful influence. In France there remains of his works only a magnificent salt-cellar, which he executed for Francis I.; in Florence is preserved the mounting of a cup in lapis-lazuli, representing three anchors in gold enamelled, heightened by diamonds; also the cover, in gold enamelled, of another cup of rock-crystal. But, besides the bronze bust of Cosmo I., we may still admire, with the group of Perseus and Medusa, which ranks among grand sculptures, the reduced form, or rather the model of that group, which in size approaches goldsmith’s work; and the bronze pedestal, decorated with statuettes, on which Perseus is placed; works that enable us to see of what Cellini was capable as a goldsmith. And, let us repeat, the influence which he exercised over his contemporaries was immense, as well in Florence as in Rome, as well in France as in Germany; and, had his work been thought utterly worthless, he would remain not less justly celebrated for giving an impulse to his time by imprinting on the art which he professed a movement as fertile as it was bold. [Illustration: Fig. 104.--A Pendant, after a design by Benvenuto Cellini. Sixteenth Century. (Cabinet of Antiquities, Bibl. Imp., Paris.)] Moreover, in imitation of the monk Theophilus, his predecessor of the twelfth century, Benvenuto Cellini, after having given practical example, desired that the theories he had found prevailing, and those which were due to his faculty for originating, should be preserved for posterity. A treatise (“Trattato intorno alle otto principali Arti dell ‘Orificeria”), in which he describes and teaches all the best processes of working in gold, remains one of the most valuable works on the subject; and even in our days goldsmiths who wish to refer back to the true sources of their art do not neglect to consult it.