MASSIMO CRUCIANI

Glass Paintings

Assisi

Since 1974 Massimo Cruciani has painted the extraordinarily beautiful landscape, with its many flowers and hilltop towns, right here in the heart of Italy between Umbria and Tuscany, where he lives and works. Within the medieval walls of Assisi, overlooking the vast green fields that stretch from Spoleto to Lake Trasimeno, amid the Renaissance rooftops of Montepulciano, surveying its endless hills, oak forests, and timeless olive trees, Massimo has been turning his hand to the glass, his gaze to the sky, his heart to the magic of this Tuscia region, and his head to the pictures he imagines.

As a consummate artist, he has always loved colour, developing his own palette while immersing himself in the local history; gathering knowledge over time through careful observation and a profound love for nature, in all its myriad forms and seasonal changes. Each of his paintings is designed from memory. Italy's green heart comes to life on his glass canvas, and travels across five continents like an everlasting memory of an unforgettable journey.

In 2017, at Palazzo Vallemani in Assisi, he presented From Sicily to the Andes, a book he co-wrote with his cousin Mario Cerruti. This recounts the story of the Cruciani family, who in the early 1900s moved from Rome and Umbria to Merida in Venezuela where they established the first successful Italian pasta factory. Another was later opened in Barranquilla in Colombia. Massimo’s father, Amedeo, one of the founders of this adventurous enterprise, spent more than 20 years of his life in this part of the world.

In October 2022 he was invited to exhibit at the American Embassy in Rome, where his solo exhibition remained open for 4 weeks.

In 2023 Massimo Cruciani was invited by the Irish writer Don Mulan to create a painting that 'united' the city of Assisi with that of San Francisco. This 70x100cm acrylic painting on glass, entitled Ponte 1 (‘bridge one’) was donated to the mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, who displays it in her office.

The Laudato sì Challenge Foundation later commissioned another painting, this time entitled Ponte 2 (‘bridge two’), which pairs Saint Claire with Assisi and this was donated to the mayor of Assisi, Stefania Proietti, for display in the municipal office.