{"id":18158,"date":"2019-08-27T03:43:35","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T02:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=18158"},"modified":"2025-06-20T14:35:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T13:35:44","slug":"saliera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/saliera\/","title":{"rendered":"The Saliera"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/salierasmall.jpg\" alt=\"Front of the Kunsthistorisches Museum\" class=\"wp-image-18163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/salierasmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/salierasmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Most salt and pepper pots might cost you a few euro from the likes of Ikea. The <em>Saliera<\/em>, however, would set you back something more than \u20ac50 million (hopefully that includes free shipping).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Golden decorated salt cellar from the mid-16th century<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Created by Benvenuto Cellini for King Francis I of France<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A gift to Archduke Ferdinand II<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Once thought lost after an art theft<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Not actually for sale (do I need to say this?)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/overview\/\">Kunsthistorisches Museum tickets &amp; visitor info<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/top-10-art\/\">Best art exhibits<\/a> in Vienna<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Cellini salt cellar<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/saliera.jpg\" alt=\"The Saliera\" class=\"wp-image-14789\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/saliera.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/saliera-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\"> (Salt cellar (Saliera) Benvenuto Cellini 1540-1543, Paris, gold, enamel, ebony, ivory 26.3 cm x 28.5 cm x 21.5 cm \u00a9 Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em>Saliera <\/em>occupies pride of place in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/kunstkammer\/\">Kunstkammer<\/a> Chamber of Wonders at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (better known as the KHM), one of my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/my-top-10-places\/\">top 10 places to visit<\/a> in Vienna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Myriads of astonishing items fill the Kunstkammer, but the <em>Saliera<\/em> perhaps towers over everything else in this diverse collection of exhibits illustrating the best of art and craftmanship in past centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ostensibly, what you have is a piece of tableware to hold salt and pepper. Two receptacles in the form of a ship and temple do indeed serve that purpose. So far so good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But that description does little justice to the true magnificence of the work, as the photo above demonstrates.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/ferdinandtyrol.jpg\" alt=\"Ferdinand II of Tirol\" class=\"wp-image-49352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/ferdinandtyrol.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/ferdinandtyrol-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Ferdinand II of Tyrol, one-time owner of the Saliera. Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taking a pinch of salt or pepper from the golden <em>Saliera<\/em> represented an act of submission, an acknowledgement that you remain mere dirt on the shoe of the owner&#8217;s prestige and power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After all, it&#8217;s hard to develop any sense of superiority over your host when the value of their salt and pepper pot probably exceeds your entire net worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inside the gallery it calls home, the <em>Saliera <\/em>sits in a free-standing glass cabinet where spotlights create a pool of light in a low-lit room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two figures rest on the work&#8217;s surface, legs intertwined. A man (&#8220;Sea&#8221;) holds a trident and sits back almost lasciviously, six-pack to the fore. Opposite him, a woman (&#8220;Land&#8221;) reclines with one hand pinching a breast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Ad:<\/em><br><\/div><div data-tiqets-widget=\"discovery\" data-cards-layout=\"horizontal\" data-slug-ids=\"exp206741,exp238032\" data-partner=\"visitingvienna\" data-tq-campaign=\"DA_ConcTour\"><\/div><script defer src=\"https:\/\/widgets.tiqets.com\/loader.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Elsewhere, a few glass display cases hold other French treasures. For example, some 16th-century cameos, a pendant of gold and enamel, or 16th-century painted enamel tableware from Limoges. These are just window dressing in the presence of the <em>Saliera<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gold is the piece&#8217;s dominant theme, urged into place by the hands of Benvenuto Cellini, an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and all-round creative genius. Few of his works have survived, but the <em>Saliera <\/em>is one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cellini completed the salt cellar in 1543 as a commission for Francis I, King of France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later that century, King Charles IX made a gift of the work to Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol around the time of the former&#8217;s marriage to the latter&#8217;s niece, Elisabeth of Austria (the daughter of the Habsburg emperor, Maximilian II, who was Ferdinand&#8217;s older brother).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"365\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/salieracellini.jpg\" alt=\"Print of Benvenuto Cellini in his studio\" class=\"wp-image-61373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/salieracellini.jpg 365w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/salieracellini-243x300.jpg 243w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 365px) 100vw, 365px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(An 1841 print of Benvenuto Cellini in his studio based on a painting by Joseph Nicolas Robert-Fleury; photo courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I sincerely hope Ferdinand&#8217;s wedding gift to the pair was more than a voucher for a Paris spa. Family reunions might have been awkward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Archduke was actually a noted sponsor of the arts and built the prestigious Schloss Ambros collection that later passed into the hands of the KHM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The story does not end quite there, though. The <em>Saliera<\/em> actually fell victim to an opportunistic theft in 2003. Fortunately for us, a contrite thief led police to its whereabouts just under three years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get to the Saliera<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/khm\/overview\/\">found the KHM<\/a>, enter the main entrance hall with its glorious dome; the stairs to the left take you up into the Kunstkammer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once inside the Kunstkammer, go straight on through the galleries until you can&#8217;t go any further and have to turn left or right. On the left is Gallery 24 (Saal XXIV) and inside is the <em>Saliera<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1Ls0bHnAFYwdqHpA-vPBaMhgV1Fw\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most salt and pepper pots might cost you a few euro from the likes of Ikea. The Saliera, however, would set you back something more than \u20ac50 million (hopefully that includes free shipping). The Cellini salt cellar (Salt cellar (Saliera) Benvenuto Cellini 1540-1543, Paris, gold, enamel, ebony, ivory 26.3 cm x 28.5 cm x 21.5 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-khm","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18158"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84260,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18158\/revisions\/84260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}