The Florentine sculptor and silversmith Benvenuto Cellini rapidly attained a degree of renown that went beyond the confines of Italy Invariably embroiled in conspiracies intrigues and quarrels Cellini is commissioned by the Pope to cast a large sculpture of Perseus He is loved by Teresa but she is promised to Fieramosca an academic artist who has not been favoured with a papal commission Terry Gilliams exuberant production draws the protagonists into a delirious and joyful yet claustrophobic and megalomaniac world a flaring up of contagious madness