With that context in mind, my take on this is that it might help people who don't appreciate art take one step in that direction because you've added more to the experience. Not bad, but not really what drives appreciation either.

I've found that what really makes people appreciate it is connecting it to the people behind it. When they see a work in the context of an artist's life, or the history of the time it was created, and understand it beyond just "look at this picture" and more of "Look at this person, their experience, their feelings, their problems and their joys, and see how they expressed all of that through art." Even if the art was a hired commission, which was historically common, just as it is today, the story of "I practiced a craft and got hired to do this" is still a story.

That really is what it boils down to - story telling. Tell a story, get appreciation. Fail to tell a story, get people who glace at it and respond, "OK. cool. Anyhoo."