PAOLA VOJNOVIC
RENAISSANCE ART HISTORIAN AND PRIVATE GUIDE TO FLORENCE
“ART GIVES ME HOPE”
I was walking along the streets of Florence, lost and without a clue, when I saw a friendly looking gentleman on the other side of the street. I approached him, excused myself, and asked in Italian if he could point me in the direction of the Uffizi. I only knew that my rental apartment was near that museum. He pointed ahead and I said “Grazie,” to which he replied in English, “I am going that way if you want to walk with me.” I chuckled and excused myself again and told him that I thought he was Italian! He took that as a compliment, thank goodness!
John and his wife, Anne, were visiting from California as Anne was a fundraiser for a restoration project at the Basilica of Santa Croce. Our conversation was without pause as we made our way to the Uffizi, but then he suggested that I accompany him to Santa Croce to meet his wife and to have lunch with them. We would be joined by Paola Vojnovic, the curator responsible for some of the restoration projects at the Basilica.
Upon our arrival at Santa Croce, John made a quick phone call and a few minutes later, his wife, Anne, came out of the Basilica. Introductions were made, and we laughed at the way we met, me mistaking him for a friendly Florentine gentleman. Then Paola came out to join us. I recall the black coat that she was wearing with its fur stole wrapped around the shoulders. Paola has a beautiful mane of dark curls that one cannot help but notice. “Stately, sophisticated, worldly,” are some of the terms that came to mind when I met her. And beautiful! Did I mention beautiful?
We sat down in a restaurant next to Santa Croce and the conversation flowed easily. Paola was not the Italian Noblewoman that I took her to be. She was born in Sarajevo in what was formerly known as Yugoslavia. Because of the war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, like many in the region, Paola’s family had to leave in order to survive. They were granted permission to immigrate to the United States. Her father had only one request; he wanted to go somewhere hot. That led them to Arizona where they didn’t know a soul. After acclimating to life in America, Paola attended Arizona State, where in 2000, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Art History. It was also at this time that she traveled to Venice, Italy, to do an internship at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. In 2006, Syracuse University in New York offered something called the Florentine Fellowship to four lucky students. At the end of the Fellowship, the students would finish with a master’s degree. Paola was one of those four. The Fellowship was the kickstart to Paola’s life in Italy.
She spent a great deal of time in the private archives and libraries in Florence. She loved that she was surrounded by art. Every street corner. Every hidden niche or angle. If one looks up, there is art. If one looks down, there is art. The city turned out to be a paradise for her.
Paola went on to work at Opera di Santa Croce where she would spend the next seven years working on special projects and doing fundraising for restorations at the Basilica. Her successful campaigns provided funds for the restoration of the Loggia of the Pazzi Chapel, the tombs of Michelangelo and Machiavelli, and many other works of art.
One of those special projects is called SISTERS IN LIBERTY: From Florence, Italy to New York, New York. This was curated at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration in New York from October 18, 2019 - September 13, 2020. The presentation focused primarily on two sculptures, the first of which was the Liberty of Poetry (1861-83), an allegorical figure created by the Italian artist Pio Fedi (1815-92). The original sculpture is placed on the tomb of the Italian poet and playwright Giovanni Battista Niccolini (1782-1861) at the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence. The second sculpture at the core of this exhibition was Liberty Enlightening the World (1865-86). Most of us know it as the Statue of Liberty, by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904). Paola was one of two curators from Santa Croce.
As i walked around the center of Florence with Paola, I could sense her delight in being in a city that has art as far as the eye can see. In one block, she pointed out things to me that any tourist passing by would never recognize. And she knows the dates, artists, sculptors, all by heart. I was quite impressed! It was during this walk around town that Paola stated, “Art gives me hope.” I truly believe her!
Paola is the creator and host of Paola’s Studiolo, a virtual meeting room of leading scholars, museum curators, and bestselling authors on the Italian Renaissance. Through this platform, we get a peek inside her private, fascinating world. She is also a published author, research scholar, and is sought after as a private tour guide for Florence. In addition, she has appeared in a film by Hershey Felder, titled Dante and Beatrice in Florence, a Musical Film. She was also featured in the ABC News segment on Dante. In 2016, she was a part of the documentary about the 1966 Great Flood of Florence, “When the World Answered,” produced by PBS. You can find out more about this Renaissance Art powerhouse at www.paolavojnovic.com.
