The life of Cellini is a romping good story which at present exists only in the form of a memoir, read by students and specialists.

Derek Parker retells Cellini's life, setting it in the context of the turbulent world of Renaissance Europe. Cellini, famous as sculptor and goldsmith, and patronized by both Francis I of France and the Medici courts of Tuscany, was one of the most picturesque figures of the Renaissance.

His adventures, hot temper and tendency to fight, his escapes from prison and amorous escapades among the Florentine and Roman nobility, and his interest in magic, made him a figure of renown in his own time, and beyond.