IL ROSSO & L'ORO, volume 1 (1825-1835), Massimo FIORENTINO

IL ROSSO & L'ORO, volume 1 (1825-1835), Massimo FIORENTINO

Several works of a general historical nature have already dealt with the Swiss military units of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies: however, an exhaustive and structured study of their organization, clothing and equipment was lacking. Such is the ambition of this collection, “Il Rosso & l’Oro”, in Italian (with summary and captions in English), the first volume of which deals with the different outfits worn by the Swiss regiments recruited under “capitulations” between 1825 and 1829, and used until December 1835. The study examines the uniforms of officers, non-commissioned officers and troops, the result of the combination of different effects distributed within the framework of clothing regulations.
Within the brilliantly dressed Army of the Two Sicilies, the Swiss units stood out for the variety and unique style of their outfits. Recruited by Francis I of the Two Sicilies (1825-1830), they initially received uniforms whose style was comparable to that of the infantry regiments of the Royal Guard; these were then replaced under Ferdinand II of Bourbon (1830-1859) by more sober but still elegant outfits.
Through these uniforms, we can therefore trace the evolution of the military uniform of the Bourbon army of Naples throughout the 19th century. The support of the most prestigious Swiss and Italian museums, as well as the assistance of certain selected private collections, have contributed to establishing a complete and structured analysis, but also to offering a fully illustrated approach to this vast subject.

“Il Rosso & l’Oro” volume I – €120
476 color pages, 24x32 cm format. Hardcover, hard cover.
325 images showing a wide range of uniforms, hairstyles, period iconographic documents, weapons and accessories
53 original uniformological subjects in color created by Bruno Mugnai
22 technical boards created by Stefano Ales and Massimo Fiorentino
43 pages of summary in English, including translation of comments and image descriptions.

THE AUTHOR:
Over the past 52 years, MASSIMO FIORENTINO has studied in depth the history of uniforms and the organization of the Italian armies before 1861. He has worked since 1979 in the field of infrastructure investments and related financial arrangements. His preferred area of historical research is the Army of the Two Sicilies, 1734-1861. He has published several books and numerous articles in specialist journals, from the daring “Warrior” in the early 1970s to “Soldats Napoléoniens” and “La Revue Napoléon” more recently, including “Storia Modellismo”, “Rivista Militare”, “Figurina Helvetica”, “Militaria Belgica” and “Tradition Magazine”. He collaborated with the “Military Review” of the Italian Ministry of Defense (“Rivista Militare”) between 1974 and 1987 and with the “Historical Service of the Italian Army” (“Ufficio Storico”) between 1983 and 1990. He has curated several exhibitions in the field of military history such as “Dalla Campagna d'Italia a Porta Pia, 1796-1870” in Rome in 1975-76; “Dagli Eserciti Pre-unitari all’Esercito Italiano” in Rome, Castel Sant’Angelo, in 1985; “Napoleon e la Repubblica Italiana” in Milan in 2002. The first volume of “Il Rosso & l'Oro” was published in March 2022 and the second volume in March 2024.