People in those days usually thought that a good work of art is a work of art that teaches good moral values.
So art is perceived as a means to realize a better social order. Thus, beauty can not be evaluated from social use. A beautiful work and also socially beneficial. There, the art and civilization of money are two separate things. In the tradition that is done here is the art in Europe that developed into the Renaissance in the 16th century.
This consensus was dismantled into the Romantic period (18th and 19th centuries). In those days, there were a few things to do. Work things from all aspects of its usefulness. Good artwork is a beautiful work of art if it is 'unconditional' (not interested).
Aesthetic thinkers such as Earl of Shaftesbury, Immanuel Kant, Théophile Gautier and Oscar Wilde are united by this rule. From then on a typical aesthetic dilemma emerged.