Functioning as more than just an expensive condiment holder, the cellar aimed to catapult conversation among intellectuals on the underlying meanings of the work.

In the 1530s, Benvenuto Cellini was known as a coin maker, but once he entered the service of Cardinal Ippolito d'Este in Rome, he began to make larger and bolder pieces.

[7] He then worked for many prominent figures in his career, including King Francis I of France (r. 1515–1547), and later in Florence for the Medici ruler Duke Cosimo I (r.1537-1569).

[6] Cellini's overall technique in designing the salt cellar for King Francis I stemmed from methods that he learned from Caradosso (Cristoforo Foppa).

[2] The substantial power of the court is demonstrated through access to rare condiments such as salt and pepper that had been of great interest to Europeans.

[9] Created in the Mannerist style of the late Renaissance, Cellini's Salt Cellar allegorically portrays Terra e Mare (Land and Sea).

[10] Moreover, the style popular in Florentine courts inspired Cellini as well: the sumptuous material of gold and enamel, the female figure's relatively slender proportions, attention to details, and the mastery of execution.

[9] Signifying these winds of the cardinal direction are male youths located on the base, they are shown with expanded cheeks in the act of blowing billows of air.

[12] Originally, the cellar was part of the Habsburg art collection at Castle Ambras, but was transferred to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna during the 19th century.

The cellar was recovered on 21 January 2006, buried in a lead box in a forest near the town of Zwettl, Austria, about 90 km north of Vienna.