Benvenuto Cellini

Cellini, Benvenuto (1500–71), Italian metalsmith, sculptor, and writer. Of his work in precious metals little survives except the gold and enamel saltcellar made for Francis I of France in 1543. His most famous sculpture is Perseus with the Head of Medusa (1545–54). His celebrated Autobiography (1558–62) is colorful and vigorous, though somewhat exaggerated.