near Florence, Italy — 1537
Benvenuto Cellini’s “enormous splendor”
In his autobiography well-known artist Benvenuto Cellini relates the following: Fig. 14: Benvenuto Cellini “On horseback, we were coming back from Rome. Suddenly people cried ‘Oh God what is that great thing we see over Florence.’ It was a great object of fire, twinkling and emitting enormous splendor…”
Source: Benvenuto Cellini, Vita, 1558-1566, Book I, 89. Case: W128