MY NONNO, THE MAESTRO WHO FENCED WITH THE CANVAS

It must be in the genes. A Lorenzo is conservative at heart. It must be in the genetic memory of the family. But then again, my nonno (grandfather) was not Italian by blood— that would be me, the descendant of the signorina he married in Rome, from whom my Papa (Paolo), three uncles, and an aunt came.

- CATERINA LORENZO-MOLO

Nonno’s earliest paintings — “The Nipa Hut Where I Was Born” (1924) and “My Grandmother” (1926) — already illustrate his attention to structure and form. Perhaps Rome merely refined something that was already there—spending his formative years training to become a master, as he walked the streets with his new wife and her family— hence works such as “Maternità” (1933), “Campo de’ Fiori” (1934) and “Preghiera” (1934), among many others he sold as a young artist in 1930s Italy.

Notwithstanding, a Lorenzo is a disciplinarian — strict, principled, drawn to order — and Diosdado was as such as parent, professor and painter, in many ways like his father-in-law, Enrico Paolini in “Fascista” (1932) — a pure Romano: conservative and a disciplinarian, who allowed his eldest daughter (Lina) to marry a foreigner, who uprooted her and his first grandchild (Emilio) to a land unknown, months and oceans away.

LORENZO, FILIPINAS

But long before Rome, the signs of that discipline had already appeared. Diosdado was one of seven children, considered the most intelligent. The Lorenzos were an agricultural landowning family in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija. But Diosdado was no farmer.

He was sent to the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Intramuros, where he distinguished himself academically and artistically. Initially interested in music, he turned to painting — and soon began winning first prize in the school’s contests.

At the UP School of Fine Arts, his ability drew the confidence of his professors, including Fabian de la Rosa, who even purchased his works and later bequeathed his easel — a gesture of rare recognition. He was also trained by Guillermo Tolentino and Fernando Amorsolo. His peers described him as one who painted “as if he were fencing with the brush against the canvas.”

LORENZO, ROMA