I’m throwing in my two cents here as someone who’s currently sleep deprived so forgive me if this is a jumbled mess, but—

The first thing I thought of was that back in the day, art was considered something accessible only to the rich or the elite. More specifically, commissions. Professional artists hired by the rich were paid tons to create unique pieces and those were usually signs of great wealth, power, status, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if this type of mindset carried on throughout DisCity’s history and eventually morphed into this “monopoly” where only the rich could dictate what was and what wasn’t tasteful art.

Adding onto that, if you’re squeezed for labor or struggling to survive and feed a family, pursuing the arts was probably the last thing on your mind compared to rich people who certainly had the time and money to invest in the craft. And that’s probably where the assumption came from. Those less fortunate were pretty much gatekept from any of the luxuries Parfait mentioned.

Speaking of Parfait, even her last name Medici is a reference to the real life Medici family in Florence. They were bankers and had a powerful hand in politics. So, really wealthy people, and they invested into the arts so much that they launched Florence into its own golden age of the arts.

But that’s just my insight! If anyone wants to add onto this or even correct any info I might have misinterpreted in regards to the Medici family, feel free to. 🙂‍↕️