Another debatable point is ‘Granted that common objects such as Greek amphorae were beautiful in some absolute sense, did the Greeks realize that they were beautiful?’ I am reminded of a remark in a leading article in The Times, which said something like ‘Good typography should be like clean glass – one should be able to see through it without being distracted. But if this is to happen then the typography must have that sort of discreet elegance and beauty which draws no attention to itself.’ I think this is why we only come to appreciate many common artefacts after they have passed out of
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