Benvenuto Cellini—sculptor, untrustworthy autobiographer, convicted sodomite—was in the news recently when one of his works, "the Mona Lisa of Sculpture," made the FBI's Top Ten Art Heists list. His Saliera, or salt cellar, which he designed for Francis I while in residence at Fontainebleau, is valued at US$55 million. It was stolen in May 2003; people purporting to be the thieves demanded £3.5 million in ransom in August 2003. It's still missing. (The piece is so fragile that it's likely that it won't survive its latest adventure.) More about Cellini at Wikipedia.
posted by goatdog on Dec 1, 2005 - 18 comments