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The Cellini Salt Cellar (in Vienna called the Saliera, Italian language for salt cellar) is a part-Vitreous enamel gold table sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini (c.1500-1571). It was completed in 1543 for Francis I of France (r.1515-1547), from silver plate models that had been prepared many years earlier for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este (c.1479-1520).
Functioning as more than just an expensive condiment holder, the cellar aimed to catapult conversation among intellectuals on the underlying meanings of the work. During the Renaissance, the Saliera was notable for its Mannerism. (2025). 9780521816618, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521816618 The main draw is the work's style and form, which Cellini discusses in his treatise, I trattati dell'oreficieria e della Scultura ( Treatises on Goldsmithing and Sculpture) and in his autobiography. The work is the only extant gold sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini and is most famous of extant gold sculpture work to survive from the Renaissance. Ultimately, acting as a paradigm for 'renaissance gold smithery,' the sculptor showcased the multifaceted meanings of small objects of the era. (2025). 9780205705818, Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN 9780205705818
Famously stolen in 2003, the salt cellar was recovered in 2006 and the thief was imprisoned.
Cellini's overall technique in designing the salt cellar for King Francis I stemmed from methods that he learned from Cristoforo Foppa (Cristoforo Foppa). He noticed that Caradosso would, "make a little model in wax of the size he wished his work to be." Eager to make an art piece more grand and dissimilar than Caradossos', Cellini utilized the idea of making a wax model. The end product was based on a model that Cellini had originally created for Ippolito d'Este. The Cellar was not only magnificently crafted, but it also served an important political role for Frances I and his court in the 1540s. The Saliera was designed to be the artistic symbol of the French king's domestic and international policies. The substantial power of the court is demonstrated through access to rare condiments such as salt and pepper that had been of great interest to Europeans.
Created in the Mannerism style of the late Renaissance, Cellini's Salt Cellar allegorically portrays Terra e Mare (Land and Sea). Both subjects reflect the influence of Mannerism in their enigmatic facial expressions, inaccurate body proportions, and use of contrapposto. Moreover, the style popular in Florentine courts inspired Cellini as well: the sumptuous material of gold and enamel, the female figure's relatively slender proportions, attention to details, and the mastery of execution. Depicted in the nude, the two central figures juxtapose one another, seemingly confronting each other face-to-face. The sea is representative of the male figure, Neptune, reclining beside a ship that functioned as a salt holder. The figure wields a trident in his right hand, while encompassed by sea horses, fish, shells, and other sea creatures that symbolize his godly connection with the ocean. The animals utilized in this work functioned as common iconographic symbols of antiquity.
The earth, embodied by the female figure, Tellus, is depicted alongside a temple that serves as a receptacle for pepper. In contrast with Neptune, Tellus caresses her breast as a symbol of fertility emitting, "plenty adorned with all the beauties of the world." The horn she carries in her draped right hand signifies her association with nature, while simultaneously showcasing her "fertility" and "wealth." The temple beneath her arm is designed to house the pepper.
In the oval-shaped base of the sculpture, Cellini included four gold figures representing the times of day that were inspired by Michelangelo's allegorical figures of Day and Night, and Dawn and Dusk, in the Medici Chapel in the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. Alongside the times of day are the primary winds. Signifying these winds of the cardinal direction are male youths located on the base, they are shown with expanded cheeks in the act of blowing billows of air. Fire is symbolized by the salamander located underneath the heel of Tellus' left foot, which was the personal emblem of Francis I. Cellini further added more allegorical motifs to represent the court such as the king's coat of arms, an elephant, and lilies. In the end, the classical elements—earth, water, air and fire—are all showcased in the work. Moreover, the sculpture was designed to illustrate the all-encompassing order of the cosmos and of the small microcosm of the world.
Originally, the cellar was part of the Habsburg art collection at Castle Ambras, but was transferred to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna during the 19th century.
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