Bronze Mirror: Benvenuto Cellini's Culmination in Perseus
Description/Abstract/Artist Statement
The Late Renaissance sculptor Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa is the artist’s most well-known work apart from his autobiography. Scholarly investigation into Cellini’s Perseus tends to focus on the iconography of the sculpture in connection with his own life and vocation as a sculptor. Michael Cole’s “Cellini’s Blood” focuses on the iconographic relationship between the work and Cellini’s perception of himself, while Margaret A. Gallucci’s Benvenuto Cellini: Sexuality, Masculinity, and Artistic Identity in Renaissance Italy explores Cellini’s personal life and sexuality, in relation to Perseus. Mary E. Sisler approaches Cellini and Perseus from a different perspective by asserting Perseus is another form of autobiography, much like his Vita. This paper takes a similar approach to Sisler--arguing that Perseus is an allegorical self-portrait of the artist rather than autobiography. Perseus is a visual representation of the artist in hero form rather than a telling of his life. Considering some of the fundamental beliefs of Cellini and that were popular during his life, the iconography of Perseus can be examined on a deeper level than just his triumphant victory over skeptics and establishment as a sculptor. This paper also considers evidence of Cellini’s work as an embodiment of his self-perception while simultaneously fulfilling the commission for Cosimo I de’ Medici. The imagery of Perseus and additional details reveal Cellini’s solidification as a great Renaissance artist with undeniable attribution to him as the artist and, as this paper suggests. his own representation.
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Dr. Anne Muraoka
Faculty Advisor/Mentor Department
Art Department
College Affiliation
College of Arts & Letters
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Disciplines
Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture | Arts and Humanities | History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
Session Title
Art History 1: The Nude in Context
Location
Learning Commons @Perry Library, Room 1306
Start Date
3-25-2023 9:30 AM
End Date
3-25-2023 10:30 AM
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Bronze Mirror: Benvenuto Cellini's Culmination in Perseus
Learning Commons @Perry Library, Room 1306
The Late Renaissance sculptor Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa is the artist’s most well-known work apart from his autobiography. Scholarly investigation into Cellini’s Perseus tends to focus on the iconography of the sculpture in connection with his own life and vocation as a sculptor. Michael Cole’s “Cellini’s Blood” focuses on the iconographic relationship between the work and Cellini’s perception of himself, while Margaret A. Gallucci’s Benvenuto Cellini: Sexuality, Masculinity, and Artistic Identity in Renaissance Italy explores Cellini’s personal life and sexuality, in relation to Perseus. Mary E. Sisler approaches Cellini and Perseus from a different perspective by asserting Perseus is another form of autobiography, much like his Vita. This paper takes a similar approach to Sisler--arguing that Perseus is an allegorical self-portrait of the artist rather than autobiography. Perseus is a visual representation of the artist in hero form rather than a telling of his life. Considering some of the fundamental beliefs of Cellini and that were popular during his life, the iconography of Perseus can be examined on a deeper level than just his triumphant victory over skeptics and establishment as a sculptor. This paper also considers evidence of Cellini’s work as an embodiment of his self-perception while simultaneously fulfilling the commission for Cosimo I de’ Medici. The imagery of Perseus and additional details reveal Cellini’s solidification as a great Renaissance artist with undeniable attribution to him as the artist and, as this paper suggests. his own representation.