Autobiography (Vol. I, Ch. XXXIV-XXXVIII), by Benvenuto Cellini

<p>At the age of fifty-eight Benvenuto Cellini shaved his head and retired to a monastery to write his own story of murder, passion, and great deeds of the Renaissance. His life is a vivid picture of the most colorful period in history, a period when statecraft and religion and black magic and assassination were naively mingled in men's lives. (Volume 31, Harvard Classics)</p> <p>Benvenuto Cellini died Feb. 13, 1570.</p> <p> </p>