Giovanni Battista Armenini or Armanini (1530–1609) was an Italian art historian, critic, and academic. He was born and died in Faenza. His main contribution was the publication in 1587 of the theoretical treatise on the practice of painting, titled De veri precetti della pittura. Armenini describes that he had the opportunity to travel through Rome, Naples, Milan, Genoa, Venice and other cities of Italy for nine years. In 1564, he became rector of the church of San Tommaso in Faenza.