us and the exquisite in
art, his self-applause and self-assertion, running now and again into
extravagances which it is impossible to credit, and difficult to set
down as strictly conscious falsehoods, make this one of the most
singular and fascinating books in existence. Here we read, not only of
the strange and varied adventures of which we have presented a hasty
sketch, but of the devout complacency with which Cellini could
contemplate a satisfactorily achieved homicide; of the legion of devils
which he and a conjuror evoked in the Colosseum, after one of his not
innumerous mistresses had been spirited away from him by her mother; of
the marvellous halo of light which he found surrounding his head at dawn
and twilight after his Roman imprisonment, and his supernatural visions
and angelic protection during that adversity; and of his being poisoned
on two several occasions. If he is unmeasured in abusing some people, he
is also unlimited in praising others. The autobiography has been
translated into English by Thomas Roscoe, by J.A. Symonds, and by A.
Macdonald. Cellini also wrote treatises on the goldsmith's art, on
sculpture, and on design (translated by C.R. Ashbee, 1899).

Among his works of art not already mentioned, many of which have
perished, were a colossal Mars for a fountain at Fontainebleau and the
bronzes of the doorway, coins for the Papal and Florentine states, a
Jupiter in silver of life size, and a bronze bust of Bindo Altoviti. The
works of decorative art are, speaking broadly, rather florid than
chastened in style.

In addition to the bronze statue of Perseus and the medallions already
referred to, the works of art in existence to-day executed by him are
the celebrated salt-cellar made for Francis I. at Vienna; a medallion of
Clement VII. in commemoration of the peace between the Christian
princes, 1530, with a bust of the pope on the reverse and a figure of
Peace setting fire to a heap of arms in front of the temple of Janus,
signed with the artist's name; a medal of Francis I. with his portrait,
also signed; and a medal of Cardinal Pietro Bembo. Cellini, while
employed at the papal mint at Rome during the papacy of Clement VII. and
later of Paul III., executed the dies of several coins and medals, some
of which still survive at this now defunct mint. He was also in the
service of Alessandro de' Medici, first duke of Florence, for whom he
executed in 1535 a forty-soldi piece with a bust of the duke