Benvenuto Cellini (1500-71) is the greatest name among the many great ones of the sixteenth century in the art of the goldsmith. Some of his work has already been noticed in the chapter on enamels. Cellini represents the art of the Italian goldsmith and enameller at its best period. He was famous for his designs in jewellery, in which he set precious stones in cartouche work combined with griffins, masks, and well-modelled little figures (Fig. 170). Many cups made in lapis-lazuli, sardonyx, and rock-crystal are attributed to him. He was also a successful worker in bronze, the best of his works in this metal being the statue group of Perseus and Medusa, and the colossal bas-relief of the Nymph of Fontainebleau, copies of which may be seen in Kensington Museum. A graphic and very interesting account of the casting of the Perseus group is given in his autobiography. A fine shield in damascene work by Cellini is in Windsor Castle. His smaller works in gold and jewellery probably exist in greater numbers than can be verified owing to the absence of his signature or other identifying marks. According to his own account, when besieged with the Pope, Clement VII., in the Castle of Angelo, by the Spanish, he unset the precious stones and jewellery, and melted down at the command of the Pope about two hundredweight of gold and silver crowns, tiaras, cups, and reliquaries of ancient workmanship in order to convert them into money and medals as required by the Pope. This gives us a good idea of how the fine treasures of the Middle Ages must have been destroyed under similar circumstances, and excites our wonder how any valuable piece of goldsmith’s work has escaped the melting-pot, which was generally the sequel to the pillaging of conquering troops or the exigencies of war. Cellini’s visit to France and his work in that country gave a great impulse to the style of the Renaissance, and his countryman, Primaticcio the sculptor, spread the style still further in France.
Fig. 168.—Monstrance; Italian; Fifteenth Century. (S.K.M.)
Some names of Italian goldsmiths about or immediately after Cellini’s time are—Luca Agnolo, Valerio Vicentino, Pilote, Piero di Mino, Vincenzo Dati, Girolamo del Prato. The latter was a native of Lombardy. Benedict Ramel, François Desjardins, Delahaie, and François Briot are names of French goldsmiths of the sixteenth century. Many models of vases, ewers, plates, cups, and tankards were made by Briot in pewter that are still in existence. These pewter models were usually made by goldsmiths, no doubt, as models for their gold and silver work, or in some cases were casts taken from the finished works, and kept as mementos or as replicas in design of their more costly works, and were also sold to those whose means would not permit them to indulge in the more costly gold and silver plate. Briot’s pewter models are among the best examples of design and workmanship in metal of the sixteenth century.
In Germany the art of the metal worker flourished in the sixteenth century in its greatest perfection at Nuremberg and Augsburg.
The German goldsmiths’ work, especially at the end of the century, was almost identical with that of the Italian school. The similarity is seen in the details of the ornamentation, the masks and figures; the difference may be noted in the extraordinary development of the cartouche and strap-work of the German work, more especially in that of the Netherlands.
Many German artists of this time, who were chiefly engravers, designed for the goldsmiths and produced engravings from which goldsmiths’ work and enamel paintings on metal were executed.
Fig. 169.—Pax; Italian; Sixteenth Century. (S.K.M.)
