Livio Retti

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Ceiling fresco in the chapel of the Ludwigsburg Palace

Livio Retti (* 30th November 1692 in Laino , † 2. January 1751 in Ludwigsburg ) was an Italian painter of the Baroque , in southern Germany worked.

Life

Retti came from a family of artists. He was the son of the plasterer Lorenzo Mattia Retti († 1714) and his wife, a sister of the chief construction director Donato Giuseppe Frisoni . The plasterer Donato Riccardo Retti (1687–1741) and the builders Paolo Retti (1691– after 1735) and Leopoldo Retti (1705–18 September 1751) were his brothers. Retti lived in Ludwigsburg at 37 anterior Schlossstrasse. He made paintings in the castles or buildings that his brother Paolo built, for example in the Favoritenschlösschen and the castle chapel in Ludwigsburg. In the palaces of Freudenthal and Heimsheim as well as in the former Grävenitzpalais he carried out work (mostly frescoes) that are no longer available due to structural changes. In 1732 he was appointed court painter to Württemberg , which earned him an annual waiting allowance of 350 guilders. According to sources, he was also active in the castles of Ansbach , Mergentheim and Würzburg . It is possible that he also made mythological and biblical representations in some private houses near the town hall. In 1743 he was appointed court painter to the Electorate of the Palatinate , on which occasion he made additional claims to the Württemberg court on behalf of his relatives, which amounted to 6,000 guilders and were paid out to him. He died at the age of 58 and was buried in Hofen am Neckar , Cannstatt . He was documented as court painter to Duke Eberhard Ludwig (Württemberg) in 1732 and court painter to Elector Karl Theodor (Palatinate and Bavaria) and Mergentheim in 1743 . His frescoes in the town hall of Schwäbisch Hall were lost in a fire in 1945.

Work in Schwäbisch Hall

Supraporte "Alexander the Great"

In April 1736, Retti was commissioned by the city's magistrate to produce frescoes for the town hall of Schwäbisch Hall , in particular the ceiling fresco Victory of Christianity over Paganism in the Great Hall (burned in 1945). A wheelhouse protocol from April 9, 1736 provides information that the artist should receive 1,415 guilders for the production of three ceiling paintings , four wall paintings and seven smaller pictures above the doors in the halls. For a satisfactory execution he was promised a further 50 guilders after completion. The period for this work was estimated at around two years. These specifications of the contract were subsequently changed or expanded, so that there were twelve paintings by him in the halls. The paintings were painted in oils on canvas. For the artistic design it says:

“These show a good composition and clear presentation; the color is fresh and warm, shiny and strong; the color harmony is seldom disturbed; Light and shadow are almost always correctly distributed; the perspective is usually safe; the drapery of the individual figures varied and often rich. The spirit of the Venetian school and its last representatives speaks from all the pictures "

- J. Balluff

These paintings count as the main work of Retti.

literature

  • To the panels (panels 31–33 - views from Schwäbisch Hall) . In: Leaves for Architecture and Crafts . Volume 6, No. 4 . A. Braun, Berlin April 1, 1893, p. 19 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ): "In total 3 ceiling, 4 wall and 7 sopra porta paintings [...] are works by the painter Livio Retti [...]"
  • J. Balluff: The town hall in Schw. Hall . In: Gerd Wunder (Ed.): Württembergisch Franconia . New episode, volume 9 . Historical Association, Schwäbisch Hall 1906, The paintings. I. The author of the same - Livio Retti, p. 15–51 and 76–78 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • Eberhard von Cranach-Sichart: Retti, Livio . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 28 : Ramsden-Rosa . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1934, p. 191 .
  • Kuno Ulshöfer: A letter from the court painter Livio Retti about the town hall paintings in Schwäbisch Hall. In: Württembergisch Franken. 57, 1973, pp. 287-289.
  • Hermann Mildenberger: "The benevolent power of fire - The destructive power of fire" (two allegories by Livio Andreas Retti). In: Württembergisch Franken. 62, 1978, pp. 83-92.
  • Hermann Mildenberger: Allegory of Music and the Five Senses. Ceiling frescoes by Livio A. Retti (1692/93 to 1751) in the music hall of the Keckenburg in Schwäbisch Hall. In: Württembergisch Franken. 64, 1980, pp. 161-178.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c J. Balluff: The town hall in Schw. Hall . In: Gerd Wunder (Ed.): Württembergisch Franconia . New episode, volume 9 . Historical Association, Schwäbisch Hall 1906, The paintings. I. The author of the same - Livio Retti, p. 15–51, here pp. 19–20 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ Livio Retti on deutsche-biographie.de (accessed on January 4, 2017).
  3. ↑ Livio Retti on sueddeutscher-barock.ch (accessed on January 3, 2017).
  4. ↑ Ursula Stevens: Livio Retti. In: tessinerkuenstler-ineuropa.ch. 2016, accessed November 21, 2016 .
  5. ↑ a b J. Balluff: The town hall in Schw. Hall . In: Gerd Wunder (Ed.): Württembergisch Franconia . New episode, volume 9 . Historical Association, Schwäbisch Hall 1906, The paintings. I. The author of the same - Livio Retti, p. 15–51, here pp. 20–21 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
personal data
SURNAME Retti, Livio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Retti, Livio Andrea
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian artist and painter
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 1692
PLACE OF BIRTH Laino
DATE OF DEATH January 2, 1751
Place of death Ludwigsburg