An Afternoon at the Medici Shanghai Center & Christies'

Sep 17

Written By Gwyneth

I recently attended a very interesting and fun activity sponsored by Christies’ and Medici Shanghai Center. It introduced the history, arts and crafts of Italy’s most renowned Medici family. It also included a floral arrangement and a perfume session that aim to replicate Medici’s floral arrangement style and scents to let us feel fully submersed in the beauty of the time. This session was a rare and perfect break for me from my normal hyper-busy work routines - to indulge myself in the joy of sensing, seeing, and learning beautiful things. Art can be in many different forms. Although art could not fulfill our physical needs, it could certainly improve our mental state, alleviate our stress, and help improve our physical state.

I am sure you’ve heard of the name Medici. How much do you know about the Medici family and its influence and importance in the history of arts, music, and humanity? The House of Medici was an Italian banking family that successfully made itself into a political dynasty and monarchy. It traced its origin to Giovanni di Bicci (1360-1429) and ended with Anna Maria Luisa de Medici (1667-1743), because from her generation, there was no more male heir, and she ended up donating all the remaining Medici assets to the city of Florence. From the hindsight, her act of philanthropy was precisely how the Medici family assets were able to be preserved even during the subsequent tumultuous political turbulences in the following centuries to come, and the assets were able to survive till today for the public to view and enjoy. Allow me to quote from Wikipedia for a good, concise description of the family’s achievements: “The House of Medici first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century…This bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century and facilitated the Medici’s rise to political power in Florence, although they officially remained citizens rather than monarchs until the 16th century…The Medici produced four popes of the Catholic Church and two queens of France. In 1532, the family acquired the hereditary title Duke of Florence. The Medici Bank, from when it was created in 1397 to its fall in 1494, was one of the most prosperous and respected institutions in Europe, and the Medici family was considered the wealthiest in Europe for a time. The family had claimed to have funded the invention of the piano and opera, financed the construction of Saint Peter's Basilica and Santa Maria del Fiore, and were patrons of Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Machiavelli, Galileo and Francesco Redi among many others in the arts and sciences." The Medici also built some of the first and most important examples of the Italian architecture and gardens, which later served as inspiration for many European courts.

In a New Yorker’s article, “The Medici as Artists Saw Them,” written in July 5, 2021, by Peter Schjeldahl, the writer wrote: “The guileful Medici family advanced humanism in all the arts in Florence, and most of the city’s painters fell into line, flattering the dynasty with masterly portraiture.”

Now, that’s the Medici name and history that all music and art lovers cannot ignore or forget! The study of the reasons behind the rise and fall of the family can surely shed some lights to humanity’s ambitions, the love of arts and music, the struggles in its relationship with God and with the Church, and its ultimate deviation from the humble beginnings and steadfast dedications.