Thanks Roger for your help.....Google translates as below, He is obviously quite unrecognised but the detail in the illustrations is superb. Unfortunately they are not annotated so it is going to take a lot of research to identify the plates that I have, that is why I was hoping a book might exist.
Born in Imola March 20, 1845, from an early age he developed a passion for drawing that developed portraying military figurines observed on the dusty roads of the country, then the path to the Papal and Austrian soldiers, then by Piedmont. His powers of observation captured every distinctive element of the uniform and when he saw them personally had them describe and then draw them. The untimely death of his father, seemed to interrupt his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. Came to his aid before a municipal subsidy then nothing until 1867. After the death of his mother, who had been his only supporter, then decided to move to Milan. Here he obtained various positions as an illustrator for magazines, continuing the portraits of men and events. From 1887 he became director of the "Military Illustration Italian" gaining in Italy and abroad large claims. His son Italo followed in his footsteps but with less success. Fifth place was extinguished in 1917 in Carate Brianza. The artistic production of Quinto Cenni is today housed in part by public institutions and partly by numerous private collectors spread throughout the world. At the National Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome are kept 288 watercolors, 238 of which were donated by the Prime Minister and 50 by the heirs of Mussolini Cenni.
At the Museo del Risorgimento Milan are preserved watercolors on 133 volunteers of the Risorgimento. Other smaller groups are located at the Civic Art Gallery of Imola.
The Historical Office of the Army has, in addition to the private artist, (300 tablets of the code), a collection of 2,500 sheets divided into several volumes, where the Fifth Italo and his son after him have collected notes and designs on uniforms, on arms and armies around the world and throughout the ages. Recently, 50 watercolors of Quinto Cenni the Duchy of Parma at the time of Marie Louise, of which no one knew existed, appeared in shows at the Museum of New York.
Do any of our European contributors have any information or do we have an expert on the Italian army on board?
Claude
