CAART

HISTORY

CAART (previously C.A.A.R.T., established in 1950) was founded in 1961 by the husband and wife team Massimo Lucci and Palmina Galli, with the support of their three sons Giancarlo, Romeo and Ignazio, the current owners. The business operates both within Italy and internationally, seeking out major new emerging markets and employing the latest communications technology.

Because the owners wanted to maintain full control over all manufacturing and commercial decisions, they decided to keep all operations in-house: producing sculptures, moulds and templates; the graphic design and layout of sacred images; casting and metalwork; moulding and metal-coating plastics; woodworking; producing statues and similar items from eco-friendly resin; and creating sophisticated designs with lasers.

Thanks to the management’s inventiveness and willingness to embrace new technologies, the business has been able to create miniature works of the highest quality, providing reproductions of great artistic merit to regional and municipal bodies, banks, religious orders and other organisations all over the world.

Our journey began with a market stall: one of many crammed into the square in front of the Sanctuary of St. Gabriel in Isola del Gran Sasso d’Italia, a town in the Abruzzo region of Italy. In 1950, the religious goods seller Massimo Lucci and his wife Palmina Galli set up a business that has since passed down through three generations of children and grandchildren, achieving some major economic and technological milestones along the way. The business, which they called C.A.A.R.T. (Casa Artigiana Articoli Religiosi e Turistici), would go on to conquer America in the 1970s. The firm’s hard work and creativity persuaded the Abruzzo Region to award it DOC status in 1992, as part of a drive to promote Abruzzo-made handicrafts. Although the business is now 70 years old, it remains at the forefront of a unique sector, where a profound sense of religious devotion goes hand in hand with the utmost professionalism and creativity. The three brothers Giancarlo, Romeo and Ignazio Lucci, along with their children Massimo, Roberta, Graziano and Angela, continue to follow the path their ancestors embarked upon, while updating the business for the modern age. The result is a harmonious blend of tradition and modernity and a series of works of international renown.

Globally significant works

produced by CAART

Gold, silver and bronze reproduction of the historic Quattrino coin from the Ancient Mint of Teramo (14th–15th century) depicting Andrea Matteo Acquaviva, Duke of Atri;
Production of a gold, silver and bronze medal (60 mm diameter) marking Pope John Paul II’s visit to the Sanctuary of San Gabriele dell’Addolorata, given to His Holiness by the company’s owners;
Reproductions of various bronze artefacts from the Necropolis of Campovalano;
A miniature bronze reproduction of sculptor Venanzo Crocetti’s The Annunciation (20 x 20 cm) for the Great Jubilee (2000), given by Archbishop Antonio Nuzzi to all parishes in the Diocese of Teramo;
A miniature reproduction of the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano;
Production of various medals and statues of the Beatification and Sanctification of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina.