Also of note about the Cellini saltcellar, it is his only extant (existing work)...
In terms of damage to works, one need only think of the Parthenon's Ionic Frieze enduring centuries of damage by Christians smashing at the pagan monument, Henry VIII burning all of the monasteries, the statue of David having its toes smashed off by a pissed off student at the Uffizi, the Taliban destroying the Bamayan buddhas in Pakistan, etc. Another famous example of "damage" is Peter the Great's wife climbing a statue of Ramses II and carving her name in it to say, "The tzarina was here."
In terms of damage to works, one need only think of the Parthenon's Ionic Frieze enduring centuries of damage by Christians smashing at the pagan monument, Henry VIII burning all of the monasteries, the statue of David having its toes smashed off by a pissed off student at the Uffizi, the Taliban destroying the Bamayan buddhas in Pakistan, etc. Another famous example of "damage" is Peter the Great's wife climbing a statue of Ramses II and carving her name in it to say, "The tzarina was here."