The Treatises of Benvenuto Cellini on Goldsmithing and Sculpture: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Treatises of Benvenuto Cellini on Goldsmithing and Sculpture, credited to Benvenuto Cellini, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Treatises of Benvenuto Cellini on Goldsmithing and Sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini. (Translated by Charles Robert Ashbee.) Read in English by Rob Marland Benvenuto Cellini, a 16th century Florentine goldsmith and sculptor, is perhaps better known for his colorful autobiography than his works of art. In his "Trattati", Cellini explains how he made his intricate pieces in gold, such as the salt cellar intended for the table of King Francis I of France, and his monumental sculptures, including the bronze Perseus and Medusa that stands in Florence's Loggia dei Lanzi. Cellini allows himself numerous digressions, so what might in the hands of another author have proved a dry textbook is instead an amusing companion to his "Vita". - Summary by Rob Marland

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Treatises of Benvenuto Cellini on Goldsmithing and Sculpture
• Author credits: Benvenuto Cellini
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 46
• Listed recording duration: 7:32:24

Catalogue topics

• renaissance
• Florence
• sculpture
• goldsmithing

Opening tracks: first 24 of 46

1. 00 - Preface: An Introductory Account by the translator, C. R. Ashbee — 17:30
2. 01 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Introduction — 20:05
3. 02 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter I. On the Art of Niello — 8:33
4. 03 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter II. On Filigree Work — 15:59
5. 04 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter III. Concerning the Art of Enamel — 21:36
6. 05 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter IV. Jewellery — 7:02
7. 06 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter V. How to Set a Ruby — 2:39
8. 07 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter VI. How to Set an Emerald and a Sapphire — 8:59
9. 08 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter VII. How to Make Foils for All Sorts of Transparent Jewels — 8:55
10. 09 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter VIII. On the Cutting of a Diamond — 12:24
11. 10 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter IX. How You Tint a Diamond — 15:12
12. 11 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter X. How to Give a Diamond its Reflector — 4:39
13. 12 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XI. About White Rubies and Carbuncles — 8:16
14. 13 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XII. Minuterie Work — 56:45
15. 14 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XIII. On Cardinals' Seals — 19:10
16. 15 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XIV. How to Make Steel Dies for Stamping Coins — 16:01
17. 16 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XV. About Medals — 9:52
18. 17 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XVI. How the Before-Mentioned Medals are Struck — 4:54
19. 18 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XVII. Another Way of Striking Medals with the Screw — 4:41
20. 19 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XVIII. How to Work in Large Ware, in Gold and Silver and Such Like — 1:18
21. 20 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XIX. How to Begin Making a Vase — 3:28
22. 21 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XX. Another and a Better Way of Casting — 3:01
23. 22 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXI. Yet Another Furnace, Such a One as I Made in the Castle of St. Angelo at the Time of the Sack of Rome — 2:51
24. 23 - The Treatise on Goldsmithing: Chapter XXII. How to Fashion Vessels of Gold and Silver, Likewise Figures and Vases, and All that Pertains to that Branch of the Craft called 'Grosseria' — 21:08

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.