Quinto Cenni

Quinto Cenni (20 March 1845 – 13 August 1917) was an Italian painter, engraver, lithographer and illustrator who specialized in depicting military personnel and their uniforms.

Quinto was sent to Bologna, where a government grant from the city of Imola enabled him to enroll at the Accademia di Belle Arti,[2] where he studied with Napoleone Angiolini.

[1] At that time, photography was still a cumbersome process, so Cenni had an opportunity to develop his skills as an engraver and lithographer by providing images for the numerous illustrated magazines that were coming into existence after the Risorgimento.

[3] Peacetime soldiering was portrayed in his works as a generally attractive and challenging fulfillment of one's patriotic duty toward the newly unified Italian state.

He also provided illustrations for I Promessi Sposi by Alessandro Manzoni; Ettore Fieramosca and Niccolò de' Lapi, both by Massimo D'Azeglio; and L'assedio di Firenze by Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi.