The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

Somewhere in France, Michel Montaigne was working on his immortal "Essays." Gibbon described him as the only man of liberality in the 16th century, aside from Henry IV. His honesty, his good will, and his probing nature have recieved the acclaim of posterity.

Somewhere in Italy, the same time, a more representative portrait was being painted -- the Autobiography of Cellini. While it has the same honesty, it lacks the grace (written in a colloquial style), the liberality, and the meditation of Montaigne. It is probably more represantative of the Renaissance man, and of modern man altogether. Reading Cellini, one comes to understand what Camus meant by the "culture of death" at work in Western history.

Written as a novel (seen, in fact, as a progenitor of the Romantic novel), the Life of Cellini is a remarkable glimpse into the Italy and France in the times of Michelangelo and the Medici. Characters like Francis I of France, Duke Cosimo, Pope Clement VII, and artists like Michelangelo and Titian come to life in brilliant colors. But one shouldn't mistake the intent of Cellini's book as painting a portrait of his times -- no man on earth was ever so in love with himself, and HE is the subject of this book (I had to cringe every time Cellini, about to describe something fantastic, stops and declares "... that is the work of historians. I am only concerned with my affairs..." and leaves off).

I can't say for sure, but the veracity of this book must be almost incontestable, for the most part. Cellini was simply too shameless to be too much of a liar. A few times he tests our credulity: "mistakenly" leaving France with the King's silver, an arbesque "accidentally" firing and killing a man, etc. For the most part, however, we get the whole truth, and in fact more than we wanted to know.

Despite the fame and prestige Cellini comes to, he is little more than a common street rogue and villian. In the course of the book, he murders three people in cold blood, each murder worse than the last (the third time he shoots a man in the throat over a saddle dispute... on Good Friday). He delights in describing his violence ("...I meant to get him the face, but he turned and I stabbed him under the ear."), and he revels in warfare, brawling, and the misfortune of his enemies. Aside from the three murders, there are innumerable foiled and aborted murder attempts. Cellini's sadism reaches new heights when he forces one of his laborers to marry a whore, then pays the woman for sex to humiliate the man. In his descriptions of his crimes, his many run-ins with the law, and his violent disposition, Cellini seems completely unaware of himself and without shame. In fact, the intent of the book is to show him as the virtu -- a hero of divine virtue in a world of lies and deceit.

The portrayal of King Francis alone makes this book worthwhile. He is everything historical events point him out to be. Generous, jovial, and shrewd. The descriptions of the years Cellini spent as Paul III's personal prisoner are another high point, unfortunately capped by the lengthy and horribly tedious poem, "Capitolo," where Cellini clumsily elaborates on his suffering.

As a history and an autobiography, there are few greater works. But aside from its historical and literary value, the Autobiography of Cellini was just fun to read. The audacity and conceit of this horrible man is almost comical, and the loose and efficient prose makes it a smooth read.

Cellini's story reads better than a novel. He is the quintessential Renaissance man. In his service to popes, kings and a slew of dukes he was a goldsmith, painter, sculptor, soldier and he may have had more near death experiences than any other that I have ever read about. Of course, his tale leaves himself always and forever blameless in each conflict, betrayal or other unfortunate episode that he finds himself in, which is tremendously entertaining. At first, the reader is seduced into believing that this man has been wronged countless times by a world full of the most slippery types of people. By the middle of the book, however, it dawns on the reader that Cellini must have played some part in creating the misfortune and danger that he is constantly in. Cellini's writing evokes vivid images of the places and people that he meets. One of the most engrossing stories in the book is Cellini's imprisonment and later escape from the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, where he was confined by order of the Pope (who, according to Cellini, was bent on having him killed in order to prevent his own embarrasement). His escape from the place is a mix of (apparently) classic methods (he climbs down the side of the building using knotted bed sheets!) and terrible misfortune (he breaks his leg, is nearly killed, and is also attacked by mastiffs while crawling away for his life!). Very soon after having escaped the prison, though, he was again imprisoned by the Pope in a wretched and dank little cave in the Pope's own garden (where Cellini claims to have had mystical visions). Cellini has many other adventures in Italy and France (and on his journeys back and forth). Each tale is centered on how he creates his artworks in the service of some nobleman, how the nobleman is always astonished at the work, how Cellini is then betrayed by someone he was kind to (which, through no fault of his own, often puts him in the bad books of the patron). Cellini frequently ends up in a fight where he either wounds or kills the person, and then goes on his happy way. There is a great deal that one could say about this book and its author. It will suffice to state here that the book is a wonderful read, it offers excellent insights into life in the 16th century, and (as is true on my part) it makes the reader crave just half the adventure that this fellow has had.

There are few books about the renaissance that are as entertaining and rewarding as this autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, one of the most celebrated glodsmiths and artists of that time. The book is candid and can also serve as a tour guide of Florence for the more adventurous. Certainly I would recommnend reading it if you're thinking of visiting. Cellini describes other artsist of the time, famous spats between artists and between artists and their masters. despite the genius of the man, Cellini's book is more interetsing as a first hand docuemnt of what it was like to live in that time. One gets the imperssion of the sort of education parents siught for their children. Cellini describes this without holding back contempt, we also learn of his musical talents and his childhood. Cellini vividly describes his father beating him on the ears in order to leave the lasting impression of the wonderous sight of a salamander in the fireplace. the heart of the book is set in Rome, where he meets the Pope and is then imprisoned in the Fortress of castel Sant'Angelo - the very same made famous by Puccini's Tosca. Unlike the Puccinian Cavardossi, cellini is bale to escape thanks to the cliché use of bed linens. But remember this is not fiction. I would also suggest to thos interested in this book looking for Anatnio Vasari's "Lives of the Artists", Giovanni della Casa's "Il Galateo" and of course "The Prince" by Macchiavelli. Other renaissance accounts were written by Gucciardini and the Bolognese Paolo Giovio. As a final note I read the original Italian and parts of the English translation featured here. The Tranbslation was very good.