Lino Dinetto

Lino Dinetto (born 1 September 1927) is an Italian painter, muralist and sculptor, recognised for his large-scale frescoes, metaphysical compositions, and evolving style ranging from realism to cubism and symbolism. He is particularly noted for his contributions to sacred and monumental art in both Italy and Uruguay.

Early life and education Born in Este, Veneto, Dinetto began his artistic formation in Venice, studying the traditions of the Venetian school. Fascinated by en plein air painting, he found inspiration in the Euganean Hills. He later studied under Italian metaphysical painters Carlo Carrà and Mario Sironi, whose influence led him to explore order, harmony, and color as essential formal concerns.

Career

Monumental beginnings Dinetto’s early commissions were primarily ecclesiastical. In 1946, he was commissioned to recreate a 40-square-meter Last Supper mural at the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore in Tuscany, replacing a fresco destroyed during World War II.

Work in Uruguay In the early 1950s, Dinetto moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where he spent nearly five years painting the interior of the Cathedral of San José. The work was widely praised and brought him considerable recognition. From 1955 to 1960, he taught drawing and painting at the Instituto de Bellas Artes San Francisco in Montevideo.

Among his notable clients was Prince Rainier of Monaco, who commissioned a complete stained-glass cycle for the new church in Monte Carlo. From the late 1970s onward, Dinetto’s artistic output increasingly turned toward philosophical and symbolic compositions such as “Dimensione Parallela,” which explored memory, myth, and narrative abstraction. "Harmonia", Palazzo dei Trecento, Treviso (2010–2011) Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales (MNAV), Montevideo, Uruguay – Holds multiple works by Dinetto, including Paisaje (1958, tempera on paper), Mujer y niño (c. 1955, oil on canvas), and Puerto No. 18 (1958, oil on canvas). Pananti Casa d'Aste, Florence: Auctioned Dinetto's Figure (oil on plywood) in their Modern and Contemporary Art sale