Staying in the good graces of government was certainly not easy for Egil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egill_Skallagr%C3%ADmsson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eg

Staying in the good graces of government was certainly not easy for Egil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egill_Skallagr%C3%ADmsson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egill_Skallagr%C3%ADmsson), though his artistry also saved his head. In any case, I don't think it's clear that government needs to be involved at all. While patronage might have been the realm of elites in the middle ages, in the modern era any group with enough members can easily become a patron with small cost to each for the sake of supporting any artist deemed worthy (obv. crowdfunding, etc.). It might take government to tunnel under the English channel, but it doesn't take government for a bunch of neighbors to get together and pave their lane. And supporting artists is much more the later than the former.