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Time: three consecutive days in 1532, specifically the evening of Shrove Monday, the evening of Mardi Gras, dawn of Ash Wednesday and evening of Ash Wednesday, for the four Tableaux, respectively.
Place: Rome.
Structure: the Tableaux are numbered independently in the New Berlioz Edition; Tableaux I and II correspond to Act I while III and IV comprise Act II; in the Weimar version, which reflects changes suggested by Liszt and is the basis in many reference works about the opera, Tableaux I is Act I, Tableaux II is Act II, and Tableaux III and IV, with chunks removed, are termed Act III.
Tableau I (Balducci's residence)
Balducci has been summoned to a meeting with Pope Clement VII concerning the commission of a bronze statue of Perseus from the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. Balducci would have preferred Fieramosca as the chosen sculptor; he also hopes to marry his daughter Teresa to Fieramosca. But Teresa is smitten with Cellini. Before Balducci goes to his meeting with the Pope, Cellini and other Carnival celebrators come on the scene, and pelt Balducci with fausses dragées (flour pellets) that make him look "like a leopard". He can't clean himself off, however, so he continues to his meeting.
A bouquet of flowers comes through the window and lands at Teresa's feet. Attached is a note from Cellini saying that he is coming up. He does so, and explains his plan to take her away from her father so that they can live together. He and his assistant Ascanio will be disguised as monks, and will take her from her father during the Mardi Gras celebrations, when the Castel Sant'Angelo cannon is sounded to mark the end of Carnival. Unbeknownst to them both, Fieramosca has also entered the room, and overhears the plan.
Upon hearing Balducci approach, Fieramosca hides in Teresa's bedroom, and Cellini hides behind the main room door. To distract her father, Teresa invents a story about a noise in her bedroom. Balducci goes to investigate, and Cellini escapes. To Teresa's surprise, Balducci produces Fieramosca from the bedroom. He and Teresa call on the servants and neighbors to take Fieramosca and dump him outside in the fountain, but Fieramosca breaks free of the crowd.
Tableau II (a tavern, and then Piazza Colonna)
Cellini, his apprentices and friends sing the praises of being goldsmiths. Bernardino asks for more wine, but the innkeeper demands settlement of their tab. Ascanio then appears with the Pope's advance payment for the Perseus statue, but also with a warning that the casting of the statue must occur the next day. The amount of money in the advance is less than expected, which gives new impetus to the plan to mock Balducci at Cassandro's booth that night.
Fieramosca has also overheard this plan, and confides to his friend Pompeo. Pompeo suggests that they too disguise themselves as monks and abduct Teresa themselves.
People gather in the piazza. A crowd assembles at Cassandro's booth, where "the pantomime-opera of King Midas or The Ass's Ears" is unfurled. Balducci and Teresa enter, soon after Cellini and Ascanio dressed as monks, and then Fieramosca and Pompeo similarly disguised. In the pantomime, Harlequin and Pierrot compete for the attention of King Midas, who is attired to look like Balducci. At this, the real Balducci approaches the stage, leaving Teresa alone. Both sets of "friars" then approach Teresa, to her confusion. The four friars begin to battle by sword, and in the struggle, Cellini fatally stabs Pompeo. The crowd becomes silent, and Cellini is arrested for murder. As he is about to be taken away, the three cannon shots from Castel Sant'Angelo are heard, indicating the end of Carnival and the start of Lent. All of the lights in the piazza are extinguished. During the darkness and resulting confusion, Cellini escapes his captors and Ascanio and Teresa go off. Fieramosca is then mistakenly arrested in Cellini's place.
Tableau III (Cellini's studio)
Ascanio and Teresa wait for Cellini in his studio. When a procession of friars passes by, they join in the prayer. Cellini then enters, still in monk's disguise, and recounts his escape. Because he is now wanted for murder, he plans to escape Rome with Teresa, but Ascanio reminds him of his obligation to cast the statue. Ascanio goes off to find a horse. Balducci and Fieramosca then appear. Balducci denounces Cellini as a murderer and then promises Teresa to Fieramosca in marriage.
The Pope then appears to check on the progress of the statue. Cellini makes excuses, but the Pope dismisses them and decides that he will give the commission to another sculptor. Cellini then threatens to destroy the mould, and when the Pope's guards approach him, he raises his hammer. The Pope then makes Cellini an offer: if Cellini can cast the statue that evening, he will forgive Cellini's crimes and let him marry Teresa. But if Cellini fails, he will be hanged.
Tableau IV (The foundry)
After an aria from Ascanio, Cellini comes on stage and muses, in a 6/8 air, on the quiet life of a shepherd. The foundry's smithies (fondeurs) sing a sea-shanty, which Cellini sees as a bad omen. Ascanio and Cellini encourage them to continue their work. Fieramosca arrives with henchmen and challenges Cellini to a duel, which Cellini accepts asking to settle it on the spot. But Fieramosca wants it settled elsewhere. Cellini agrees. Fieramosca and his men leave.
Teresa arrives to see Ascanio handing Cellini his rapier. Cellini assures her he will be safe, and leaves. Alone, she hears the smithies start to lay down their tools, as they have not been paid and lack direction from Cellini. She tries to assure them they will be paid eventually, but to no avail. Fieramosca enters. Teresa faints, thinking Cellini dead. This is not so, as Fieramosca is about to offer a bribe to the smithies to cease work completely. But this turns the smithies against him, and they reassert their loyalty to Cellini, who reappears and, together with the smithies, recruits Fieramosca to help in the work.
In the evening the Pope and Balducci enter to learn whether the statue has been completed. Fieramosca announces that they are out of metal, which Francesco and Bernardino confirm. Cellini then prays. In a sudden act he orders all works from his studio, of whatever metal, to be smelted and reused for the Perseus, much to the consternation of Francesco and Bernardino. Moments later an explosion bursts the casting and the splendid new Perseus is revealed. All acknowledge Cellini's success, and the Pope pardons him as promised. Cellini and Teresa are united. The opera closes with a chorus of praise for the smithies.
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