Its kinda of funny that a discussion of civilization morphed into a discussion of Pre-Raphaelites. They certainly show civilization at its highest.
In a way. The Pre-Raphaelites and their aesthete descendants show that in a secure civilization - maintained, as always, by military men and women living in the dirt in the pestilential parts of the globe - the comfortable can indulge in fantasy to their hearts' content, protected from from banal reality.
I like the paintings, especially the odalisques (I was a dancer, back in the day), but I like Whistler better.