Aesthetics (Civ6)/Civilopedia

Aesthetics, focused on the nature of art and good taste, was a product of early philosophers concerned with the creation and appreciation of beauty (forget that foolishness about “eye of the beholder”). By the late Middle Ages, aesthetics had evolved to the point where it did not encompass the functionality or utility of a thing, but rather only its beauty of form, color, contrast, and other aspects. Hence, those soaring Gothic cathedrals. Just before the Renaissance got rolling – and all sorts of folks got involved in judging aesthetic appeal – Medieval thinkers were already developing general theories on proportion, perspective, and harmony for all the arts.