Armenise was an Italian painter, scenographer and illustrator, mainly painting history and genre subjects. He studied painting initially in Bari, then at the Institute of Fine Arts of Naples, where he was influenced by Domenico Morelli. In 1881, he married the daughter of the Milanese painter Borsino, who owned one of the first color (oleographic) printing establishments in Italy. Armenise moved to Milan by 1880 to work with his father-in-law. In 1899 he completed the decorations of the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari (destroyed by fire in 1991).