Voting Station

Benvenuto Cellini

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Artist

The Resume

    (November 3, 1500-February 13, 1571)
    Born in Florence, Italy
    Goldsmith, sculptor and painter
    Noted works include ‘Perseus Holding the Head of Medusa,’ ‘Apollo and Hyacinth,’ the Saltcellar of King Francis I of France and ‘The Nymph of Fontainbleu’
    Wrote an autobiography that became a posthumous best-seller

Why he might be annoying:

    At 16, he was banished from Florence for dueling.
    He killed two men.
    Little of his work in gold survives, since it was melted down into bullion.
    He frequently clashed with his patrons.
    He fathered a child out of wedlock with one of his models.
    He was imprisoned on charges of embezzling gems from the pope’s tiara (1537).
    His autobiography was heavily embellished.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was a court artist for two popes and the king of France.
    One of the men he killed had murdered his brother.
    After Cardinal d’Este intervened to have the embezzlement charges dismissed, he presented the cardinal with a gold cup in gratitude.
    He supported his widowed sister and her six daughters.
    He wrote influential treatises on goldsmithing and sculpture.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 36 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 25 Votes: 48.00% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 17 Votes: 17.65% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 46 Votes: 71.74% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 34 Votes: 52.94% Annoying