Benvenuto Cellini, or the history of art as the history of artists
H18:30-19:30
H18:30-19:30
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The event will be held in Italian
Benvenuto Cellini, or the history of art as the history of artists
At the latest since the Swiss art historian Heinrich Wölfflin called in 1915 for a “history of art without names,” the discipline has sought to align itself with other academic fields, organising and studying its subjects according to general conceptual categories. Since then, the artist’s personality—which had been at the centre of attention since the beginnings of art literature—has increasingly receded into the background.
This lecture proposes a return to the artist, not under the primacy of the aesthetic of genius or mere biographical focus, but from an anthropological perspective. The focus is on Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571), whose autobiography is regarded as the foundational text of an art history that conceives physical and psychic energies as fundamental agents of artistic creation.
The event may be photographed and/or video recorded for archival, educational, and related promotional purposes. By attending this event, you are giving your consent to be photographed and/or video recorded.
Andreas Beyer was Professor of Early Modern Art History at the University of Basel until 2025. He was Director of the Centre Allemand d’Histoire de l’Art in Paris (2009–2014) and is currently a Senior Fellow at the Swiss Institute in Rome. His most recent books are The Body of the Artist: The Hidden Trace of Life in Art (Einaudi, Saggi, Turin, 2023) and Benvenuto Cellini and the Embodiment of the Modern Artist (Reaktion Books, London, 2025).
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Perseus (Benvenuto Cellini), Loggia dei Lanzi, Firenze.