Leopoldo Mattia Retti, also known as Leopold Retty (born 1704,

Laino Laino (Comasco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about north of Como. Laino borders the following municipalities: Alta Valle Intelvi, Blessagno, Centro V ...

– d. September 18, 1751,

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

) was an Italian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

working in

Southern Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

. He is considered one of the leading representatives of late

French Baroque French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

. In

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, a ...

and in Mögeldorf there is a street named after Retti.

Life and career

Leopoldo Retti was born in 1704 to a family of artists. His father, Lorenzo Mattia Retti, was a

plasterer A plasterer is a tradesman or tradesperson who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been u ...

, as was Lorenzo's brother

Donato Giuseppe Frisoni Donato Giuseppe Frisoni (b. 1681 or 1683, Laino – d. 29 November 1735, Ludwigsburg) was an Italian architect active during the Rococo period in Northern Italy, Southern Germany, and Bohemia. Biography Donato Giuseppe Frisoni was born in Lai ...

. Leopoldo's brothers were Donato Riccardo, Livio, and Paolo Retti. In 1714, Frisoni became the building director of

Ludwigsburg Palace Ludwigsburg Palace, nicknamed the "Versailles of Swabia", is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings located in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its total area, including the gardens, is the largest palatial estate in the country. T ...

and three years later he brought the Retti brothers to

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...

to work on the palace. While his brothers worked at the palace, Leopoldo traveled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and received an architectural education. In 1726,

Eberhard Louis, Duke of Württemberg Duke Eberhard Louis (18 September 1676 – 31 October 1733) was the Duke of Württemberg, from 1692 until 1733. Biography Eberhard Louis was born in Stuttgart the third child of Duke William Louis and his wife, Magdalena Sibylla of Hesse-Da ...

, charged Retti with the continued construction of Ludwigsburg and has given the honorary rank ''

Leutnant () is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German (language), German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") fro ...

'' and an annual salary of 400

guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...

. Five years later in 1731, Retti was called to

and made a ''

Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies. While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has and originally had the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literally ...

''. The next year, Carl Friedrich von Zocha resigned and Retti replaced him as court architect of the Principality of Ansbach. In 1741, Retti was named a

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

of the

Artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

Works

Ansbach Residence Residenz Ansbach (Ansbach Residence), also known as Markgrafenschloß (Margrave's Palace), is a palace in Ansbach, Germany. It was the government seat of the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. Today it is the administrative seat of the government ...

* Retti Palace * Ansbach Synagogue * Dennenlohe Manor * Eschenau Palace * Eschenau Palace * Kirchberg Palace (Kirchberg an der Jagst) *

* Unterschwaningen Palace *

New Palace (Stuttgart) The New Palace (german: Neues Schloss) is an 18th-century Baroque palace in Stuttgart and is one of the last large city palaces built in Southern Germany. The palace is located in the on the Schlossplatz (Stuttgart), Schlossplatz in front of the ...

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Retti, Leopoldo 1704 births 1751 deaths Italian Baroque architects 18th-century Italian architects