CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Livio Retti

Italian artist (1692-1751)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ15428752
Source-derived summary

Livio Retti (30 November 1692 – 2 January 1751) was an Italian Baroque painter who worked mainly in present-day South Germany, at the time the Duchy of Württemberg, the Duchy of Bavaria, some secular or ecclesiastical Franconian principalities and some free imperial cities such as Schwäbisch Hall.

Origin and family

The Retti illustrated in Germany and the Czech Republic the emigration of Italian artists to Europe from the Alpine valleys near Como, such as the Marca, of Franche-Comté or the Landi and Resti of Hungary.

Leaving their families in their native villages, where they may or may not return at the end of their lives, the children of a few families of Italian marble workers or stucco workers were apprenticed to a master who had already left, usually from his own family. The apprentice followed his master wherever he went. There he met the other apprentices. Between them, there were contracts and worksites. It was not uncommon for brothers to work together in the same specialization; they married girls from associated families and were highly mobile from their respective points of attachment. Over time, the disciplines became more specialized and complex, so that the members of the siblings were no longer as versatile as in the 16th century. The architect, although himself versed in painting or stucco, gradually took on a dominant hierarchical role and distributed the tasks.

Retti was indeed from a family of artists:

his father was Lorenzo Mattia Retti, he was a stucco master

His brother Donato Riccardo Retti was also a stucco artist (He was with Emanuele Pighini the interior designer of the baroque interior of the collegiate church of Ellwangen

his brothers Leopoldo and Paolo Retti were both architects

His uncle Donato Giuseppe Frisoni was a master stucco artist and architect.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Livio Retti” as italian artist (1692-1751). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Livio, Retti and Italian.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1692, 1751—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1692-11-30. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Livio, Retti and Italian providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Livio Retti”, the useful work is to connect “italian artist (1692-1751)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15428752. VIAF identifies the subject as 30698250. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1692 and 1751.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Livio Retti”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Livio Retti primary sources, Livio Retti archive and Livio research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Livio Retti”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Livio Retti” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.