Antonio Paolucci (1939–2024) studied art history under Roberto Longhi in Florence and began his career in the management of cultural heritage. He was the superintendent of cultural heritage in Venice, Verona and Mantua, and became director of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence and the superintendent for the Polo Museale Fiorentino. Later, Paolucci was the director of the Vatican Museums. A specialist in Italian Renaissance art, he authored museum and exhibition catalogues, as well as publications on Donatello, Piero della Francesca, Raphael, Michelangelo and Benvenuto Cellini, amongst others.
