Benvenuto Cellini, a 16th century Florentine goldsmith and sculptor, is perhaps better known for his colorful autobiography than his works of art. In his "Trattati", Cellini explains how he made his intricate pieces in gold, such as the salt cellar intended for the table of King Francis I of France, and his monumental sculptures, including the bronze Perseus and Medusa that stands in Florence's Loggia dei Lanzi. Cellini allows himself numerous digressions, so what might in the hands of another author have proved a dry textbook is instead an amusing companion to his "Vita". - Summary by Rob Marland
Chapters
1 Preface: An Introductory Account by the translator, C. R. Ashbee 18 min 2 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Introduction 20 min 3 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter I. On the Art of Niello 9 min 4 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter II. On Filigree Work 16 min 5 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter III. Concerning the Art of Enamel 22 min 6 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter IV. Jewellery 7 min 7 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter V. How to Set a Ruby 3 min 8 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter VI. How to Set an Emerald and a Sapphire 9 min 9 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter VII. How to Make Foils for All Sorts of Transparent Jewels 9 min 10 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter VIII. On the Cutting of a Diamond 12 min 11 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter IX. How You Tint a Diamond 15 min 12 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter X. How to Give a Diamond its Reflector 5 min 13 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XI. About White Rubies and Carbuncles 8 min 14 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XII. Minuterie Work 57 min 15 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XIII. On Cardinals' Seals 19 min 16 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XIV. How to Make Steel Dies for Stamping Coins 16 min 17 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XV. About Medals 10 min 18 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XVI. How the Before-Mentioned Medals are Struck 5 min 19 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XVII. Another Way of Striking Medals with the Screw 5 min 20 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XVIII. How to Work in Large Ware, in Gold and Silver and Such Like 1 min 21 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XIX. How to Begin Making a Vase 3 min 22 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XX. Another and a Better Way of Casting 3 min 23 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXI. Yet Another Furnace, Such a One as I Made in the Castle of St. Angelo at the Time of the Sack of Rome 3 min 24 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXII. How to Fashion Vessels of Gold and Silver, Likewise Figures and Vases, and All that Pertains to that Branch of the Craft called 'Grosseria' 21 min 25 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXIII. Another Method for Gold and Silver in Such Things 2 min 26 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXIV. A Third Method for Similar Things 1 min 27 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXV. Of Figures Made in Silver and Greater than Life Size 16 min 28 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXVI. How to Gild 5 min 29 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXVII. A Recipe for Making Colours and Colouring the Gilded Parts 2 min 30 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXVIII. A Recipe for Making Another Sort of Gilding Colour 2 min 31 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXIX. How to Make a Third Gilding Colour for Very Thick Gilding 2 min 32 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXX. How to Make the Wax for Gilding 2 min 33 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXXI. How to Make Yet Another Colouring 1 min 34 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXXII. The Manner of Applying the Said Colour 1 min 35 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXXIII. What You Do When You Wish to Leave Bare the Silver in Certain Places 3 min 36 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXXIV. How to Make Two Kinds of Aquafortis, One for Parting, the Other for Engraving and Etching 3 min 37 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXXV. How to Make Aquafortis for Parting 2 min 38 The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXXVI. How to Make Royal Cement 4 min 39 The Treatise on Sculpture: Chapter I. On the Art of Casting in Bronze 5 min 40 The Treatise on Sculpture: Chapter II. How the Above-Mentioned Clay is Made 3 min 41 The Treatise on Sculpture: Chapter III. Another Method of Casting Figures in Bronze of Life Size or a Little Under 45 min 42 The Treatise on Sculpture: Chapter IV. How to Construct Furnaces for Casting Bronze, Whether for Statues, Ordnance, or Other Such-Like Things 20 min 43 The Treatise on Sculpture: Chapter V. How to Carve Statues or Intaglios, or Other Works, Such as Divers Beasts, in Marble or Other Stones 2 min 44 The Treatise on Sculpture: Chapter VI. Of Carrara Marbles 13 min 45 The Treatise on Sculpture: Chapter VII. A Disquisition on Colossal Statues Whether Moderate or Very Great 6 min 46 The Treatise on Sculpture: Chapter VIII. The Mystery of Making Great Colossi 16 min
