Autoritratto, apologia e vendetta. La "Vita" di Benvenuto Cellini
Author(s)
Date Issued
2025
Type
article
Volume
1/2025
Issue
1/2025
Start Page
21
End Page
41
DOI
Journal
Abstract
Beginning with the observation of the absolute singularity represented by the tradition of
the Vita of Benvenuto Cellini from its drafting until its critical recovery between the 18th
and 19th centuries and beyond, the essay proposes a comprehensive reading of the text that
highlights polemical themes and expressive forms peculiar to its conscious literarities. This also
considering the genesis of a writing of the self that grows in a constant relationship with the
documentary materials that constitute the author’s private archive. The apologetic projection
of the virtuoso’s ego and its prerogatives in the confrontation with the power of patrons on
the background of some of the most representative courtly realities of the entire European
Renaissance season (Rome, Paris, Florence) leads to a focused lunge on the specifics of the
relationship between the artist and the Farnese family.