"..."beautiful" as an objective, aesthetic view..." There is no such animal. I think any "objective" standard is merely an excuse to promote someone's personal tastes - even if the someone is an entire culture or epoch. Beauty? Spock said it best, IDIC. Lena Horne - still lovely and alive, not having died a tragic death.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken