KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM, Cellini Salt Cellar

Many visitors to the Kunsthistorisches Museum head straight up to the second floor and into the Picture Gallery, without exploring the rooms on the ground floor. It’s a shame to miss them, though, especially the rooms on the left, which contain a wealth of treasures, beautifully displayed.

Sparkling in the showcases is an array of objects in gold, silver, ivory, coral, mother-of-pearl, rare marble, rock crystal, precious stones, and ground and engraved glass, all exquisitely crafted.

Many of these masterpieces came from the sophisticated international courts of the 16th century. An avid collector of these objects was Emperor Rudolf II of Habsburg, who moved the capital from Vienna to Prague. Many of these objects have perfectly restored mechanisms, gears and movements, and visitors can see how they work thanks to videos available on tablets in the rooms.

Among the treasures in this section is one of the world's most famous works of goldsmithing, the marvelous gold and enamel salt cellar made around 1540 by the goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. The Florentine artist crafted the piece in the Fontainebleau palace of the French King Francis I, who gifted it to the court of the Habsburgs of Austria for use during banquets: we mustn’t forget that this masterpiece was also designed to contain condiments. Mounted on an ebony base, it features the mythological figures of Neptune and Demeter, flanked by a small temple and a shell, designed to hold pepper and salt respectively. As the author writes in his autobiography, the legs of the two figures overlap each other, like a jagged coastline, where the waves blend into the beach; and, Cellini concludes, "I sought to afford them that same grace".

An interesting fact: In May 2003, taking advantage of the scaffolding set up for the restoration of the halls, a clever thief managed to steal the precious salt cellar. To prove that he was in possession of the work and demand a ransom, the thief sent Neptune's trident to the museum manager. Negotiations proved futile, but the splendid work was fortunately found in January 2006, hidden in a box buried in a forest on the outskirts of Vienna.