Special Guest Blogger: Benvenuto Cellini

Being great in one area of your life doesn't mean you can't be a complete tool in another and I admit that I earned the admiration of the world through my genius work while also doing terrible things.
Do you know the table sculpture Cellini Salt Cellar where i molded gold into an incredibly detailed and intricate sculpture or maybe the even more famous sculpture of Perseus with the Head of Medusa? Some of my greatest works of art and that's without mentioning the autobiography which was been described as one of the most important documents of the 16th century.
At the age of 16, I was gaining a reputation as a bit of a hot head in Florence and after yet another street brawl, my father sent me to Siena where i discovered my passion for sculpture and from there to Rome where the phrase, 'it's not what you know but who you know' was written for me.
I made sculptures for the Cardinals and Bishops and Pope Clement VII was a big fan of mine which came in very handy when  my brother was killed and i killed his murderer in turn and through the influence of several cardinals clutching beautiful table sculptures and a quiet word from a fanboy Pope, I obtained a pardon.
Then, in 1527, the Sack of Rome happened, and i killed two of the occupying soldiers during the invasion which found me great favor with the new pope, Paul III, which again was very useful when three other men suspiciously wound up dead around me.
A few years later, while busy beating a man to death, a witness saw me and threatened to turn me in so i promptly killed the witness before the man could testify against me and fearing my credit with the Pope had run out by now, i went to sculpt in France.
There, i became the subject of a civil lawsuit over illegitimate children but before that filing could work its way into court, I crippled the plaintiff’s legs and fled town back to Florence and straight into an accusation that i had sodomised one of my students for which i was fined 50 golden Scudi and four years of prison, remitted to four years of house arrest thanks to the intercession of my friends the powerful Medici family.
I married and lived out my life in peace but my legacy would be some amazing works of art and the realisation that if you are pals with the Church, you can literally get away with murder.