DILVO LOTTI

Going around San Miniato it is easy to find works created by Professor Dilvo Lotti, just linger in the square

Grifoni and look up to the face of the other palace owned by the Savings Bank of St. Miniato. Dilvo Lotti

started painting in 1931 with an oil paint box given to him by his teacher Francesco Chiappelli, box which is

still preserved in the house-museum of San Miniato. He attended the Art Institute of Porta Romana in

Florence where he graduated in 1935. In 1940 he won the Panerai Prize with the work ' Still life and child'.

In 1947 he gave birth to San Miniato Institute of Popular Drama (also known as 'Theatre of the Spirit') ,

choosing as places for the performance the natural scenery of the squares of San Miniato. From 1953 to

1985 he devoted himself to big works ,frescoes and graffiti in churches and buildings (The Chapel of Rest

Home in Ponsacco, the Cathedral of Pontedera, the Refectory of San Miniato Seminar). In 1995, from May

10 to June 9 in Hildesheim (Germany) he was given a retrospective exhibition at the two locations of the

Town Hall and the Church of St. James. Dilvo Lotti was a master of the European Espressionism. He died in

San Miniato on 22 April 2009. His home has now become a museum.