Modern vs. Medieval Methods

I have often wondered why--with all the technological resources available to us in the modern age--the annual quota of extraordinarily beautiful things produced seems to have remained constant since the medieval period. Of course, this sweeping statement must be qualified by the fact that the assessment of whether something qualifies as "extraordinarily beautiful" is made by me and therefor subject to my biases and aesthetic preferences. However, I do think my point is still somewhat valid: people are producing more (just consider the number of books published or the number of songs recorded, despite the discriminating efforts of "gatekeepers" such as publishers and record labels) but I consider the vast majority of it to be mediocre filler. I am also of the opinion that the output of the really superlative has not surpassed the level of the Middle Ages, and is in fact less than that of the Classical/Hellenistic periods in ancient Greece, for example. Why is this? What in the modern creative process is responsible for the fundamental change in quality when compared to antiquity? In what ways in particular were societies engineered differently so that so many of best creatives achieved prominence and produced work that has been honored and preserved (although I am sure that then, as now, great work goes uncelebrated)? How can we utilize technology so that instead of further enabling the indiscriminate filler mentioned above, it supports and improves the efforts of the most finely-tuned creative visionaries?
Anyway, these are some thoughts that occurred to me upon discovering the project Guédelon: Chantier Médiéval. Guédelon is a medieval castle in the process of being constructed in Burgundy, France using medieval methods and materials. The construction began in 1997 in an abandoned quarry and is anticipated to take 25 years to complete. A team of 50 people including quarrymen, stonemasons, woodcutters, carpenters, blacksmiths, tile makers, basket makers, rope makers, carters and their horses work on the project regularly, assisted by enthusiastic tourists during the summer season. The entire project sort of beggars belief, but I would love to be involved in a thing like this... and think how exciting it will be if they decide to furnish it historically accurately! Imagine the bevy of weavers, potters, armorers, carpenters, glassblowers and painters who will descend on Burgundy to complete the final stage of the project.
For more info check out their link (and thanks to Good's slow issue for the tip).

Image from Wikipedia Commons.