Francesco Simonini (1686-1755) Cavalry engaging Infantry Traces of black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash 21.6 x 34.2 cm Simonini trained under Pier Ilario Spolverini (1657-1734) in his home town of Parma and became a successful painter of battle scenes. He spent most of his career in Venice. From 1733 to 1745 Simonini was paid by von de Schulenburg for his paintings of battle scenes and landscapes as well as for this drawings. Many engravings were made of his paintings and drawings and these undoubtedly contributed to the great fame that he enjoyed in his lifetime.