Benvenuto Cellini and the Embodiment of the Modern Artist

Andreas Beyer

$39.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Reaktion Books
01 August 2025

Renaissance art; Sculpture; Individual artists, art monographs; European history; Early modern history: c 1450 to c 1700

Series: Renaissance Lives

A clear-eyed portrayal of the audacious Renaissance sculptor Benvenuto Cellini.

The art history public has long been both fascinated and repelled by renowned Renaissance sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. He was a murderer, thief, lover of all genders, servant and rival of popes and princes, as well as an ingenious artist. In his legendary autobiography, the Vita, Cellini describes his activities vividly and in lurid detail. Often, the most disturbing passages were dismissed as fiction. In this clear-eyed portrayal, Andreas Beyer argues that these sensational accounts of body, sex and extreme experiences are not only entertaining but authentic. They reveal the true depth of Cellini's character: an artist who embraced life's full spectrum and shattered all boundaries. This book asserts that the roots of artistic autonomy in modernism can be traced back to Cellini's audacious life and work.

By: Andreas Beyer
Imprint: Reaktion Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm,
ISBN: 9781836390008
ISBN 10: 1836390009
Series: Renaissance Lives
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 01 August 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Andreas Beyer is Professor of Modern Art History at the University of Basel and was previously Director of the Centre allemand d'histoire de l'art in Paris. He has published widely on art history.

Reviews for Benvenuto Cellini and the Embodiment of the Modern Artist

""Beyer is the rare scholar who writes perceptively both about Cellini's art and about his extraordinary autobiography. Anyone looking for a lively, expert introduction to the man and his work would do well to start here.""--Michael Cole, Columbia University ""Beyer's Benvenuto Cellini and the Embodiment of the Modern Artist is a wonderful achievement, showing how the artist described by Oscar Wilde as the 'scoundrel of the Renaissance' was not just one of its great mavericks, but also the first truly modern artist. A vital book on a singular artist.""--Jerry Brotton, Queen Mary University of London