Cosimo Conti was an Italian painter, restorer and art historian. From 1843 to 1851, Conti studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, where he started giving painting courses from as early as 1849. In 1848, he took part in an exhibition for the first time, showing a view of the cloister of Santa Croce with the Pazzi Chapel. Conti painted portraits and copied numerous Renaissance works, but specialised mainly in history painting. After having taken part in the Universal Exhibition in Vienna in 1873, Conti gave up painting. He devoted himself to the restoration of frescoes and published several art-historical writings from 1875 onwards.