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Why did medieval and Renaissance thinkers discuss beauty without focusing on art?

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Philosophy of art *Untitled (String Quilt, Housetop Pattern)*, cotton quilt with flour sack backing, 1930s; in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

Medieval and Renaissance thinkers often discussed beauty without focusing on art because they did not view "art" as a distinct, overarching category in the modern sense. Instead, their aesthetic inquiries were primarily grounded in broader philosophical and theological frameworks, such as the Neoplatonist theory of cosmic order.12

Rather than analyzing individual works of art, these thinkers frequently used the human face and body as their primary examples of beauty. Their discussions were often centered on:1

Divine Order: Beauty was understood as a reflection of divine harmony, conforming to mathematical laws and proportions.2
Contemplation: Philosophers like St. Thomas Aquinas defined beauty through the lens of contemplation, emphasizing perfection, proportion, and clarity.2
Symbolism: Medieval thinkers were largely concerned with the symbolic and moral meaning of objects, particularly within religious iconography, rather than the material or aesthetic properties of art itself.3

The modern focus on "fine art" as a unique, unified field of study did not emerge until the 18th century. Consequently, earlier philosophers treated beauty as a universal quality found in nature and the human form, rather than as a property exclusive to artistic artifacts.1