The Cellini Salt Cellar is a part-enamelled gold table sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini. It was completed in 1543 for Francis I of France, from models that had been prepared many years earlier for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este. The Cellini Salt Cellar depicts a male figure representing the sea and a female figure that represents the earth. A small vessel meant to hold salt is placed next to the male figure. It was modelled and cast by the Italian sculptor and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini for Francis I of France sometime between 1539 and 1543. It came into the possession of the Habsburgs as a gift by... Charles IX of France to Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol. It was originally part of the Habsburg art collection at Castle Ambras, but was transferred to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna during the 19th century. The Saliera is the only work of gold which can be attributed to Cellini with certainty and is sometimes referred to as the "Mona Lisa of Sculpture.
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