The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
About this audiobook
A master Italian sculptor, goldsmith, and writer, Benvenuto Cellini is best remembered for his magnificent autobiography. In this work, which was begun in 1558 but not published until 1730, Cellini beautifully chronicles his own flamboyant times. He tells of his adventures in Italy and France and his relations with popes, kings, and fellow artists. From Florence and Pisa to Siena and Rome, Cellini portrays a tumultuous period—the age of Galileo, Michelangelo, and de Medicis—with an artist’s eye for detail and a curmudgeon’s propensity for criticism. Cellini, according to himself, seems to have lived a very full life, and his account of his exploits, though grandiloquent and somewhat suspect, are always entertaining. Historians have considered this work as a prime example of the emergence of modern individualism during the Renaissance.
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About the author
Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, painter, soldier, and musician who is best known for his famous autobiography. He was also an influential artist during the Mannerism movement.
Simon Vance is an award-winning actor and an AudioFile Golden Voice with over fifty Earphones Awards and thirteen prestigious Audie Awards. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009.
