Our final task takes the form of a multiple-choice exam and provides the opportunity to test your knowledge of the materials covered in this study group. 

 

1. Which general statement about the Catholic Church during the periods studied is

true?

A. The Catholic Church submitted to Protestantism. 

B. The cultural significance of the Catholic Church gradually declined. 

C. The Catholic Church always dictated political and monarchical systems.

D. The Catholic Church became an even more important cultural force in the face of new challenges.

 

2. Which of the following kinds of imagery do you begin to see in the periods covered

in this course that was virtually absent from earlier periods in art history?

A. genre paintings

B. still-life paintings

C. landscape paintings

D. all of the above

 

3. Which of the following was not a force of change in the Baroque through Neoclassical

periods?

A. the Reformation

B. political revolution

C. scientific discoveries

D. religious pilgrimages

 

4. How did the Counter-Reformation affect the visual arts?

A. Nudity was frowned upon.

B. Catholic values and traditions were flaunted.

C. Religious stories were made more emotional.

D. all of the above

 

5. Which of the following artists did not create Counter-Reformation art?

A. Bernini

B. Caravaggio

C. Hals 

D. Rubens

 

6. Caravaggio’s art is famous for combining

A. classical literature with biblical stories. 

B. techniques used by French and German artists.

C. biblical stories with puns on the name of the patron.

D. lowly, naturalistic details with highly spiritual stories.

 

7. According to most scholars, Caravaggio’s paintings can be best described as

A. delicate.

B. dramatic.

C. idealized. 

D. pastoral.

 

8. The x-shaped composition is characteristic of

A. Baroque art.

B. Neoclassical art.

C. art of the Enlightenment.

D. all of the above

 

9. As epitomized in the work of Caravaggio, many of the human figures in Baroque

religious paintings differ from Renaissance human figures in which important

way?

A. They are more emotional.

B. They are less engaged with the viewer.

C. They are suffused with a greater sense of otherworldliness.

D. They are more down to earth and real—to the point of being unidealized.

 

10. Caravaggio’s use of bright light in very dark settings symbolizes

A. human ignorance.

B. a spiritual presence.

C. the pursuit of justice.

D. scientific enlightenment.

 

11. Which of the following artists painted the famed Farnese Ceiling in Rome?

A. Caravaggio

B. Carracci

C. Gentileschi

D. Rubens

 

12. What event from her personal life do scholars agree informed much of Artemisia

Gentileschi’s art?

A. her trip to England

B. the death of her father

C. her rape by her teacher

D. the birth of her first child

 

13. In general, Bernini’s sculpture can be said to do all the following except

A. emphasize motion.

B. engage the space around it.

C. remain intellectual and wholly of the mind.

D. evoke moments in time directly before and after the moment depicted.

 

14. Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Theresa is unusual in which way?

A. It depicts a sexual story, drawing on the personal writings of Saint Theresa.

B. It is sculpted from wood and covered in plaster, unlike most of his sculptures.

C. It involved the complete decoration and construction of a chapel, resembling modern-

day installation art.

D. all of the above

 

15. The appearance of the Farnese Ceiling can be best described as

A. abstract.

B. illegible.

C. illusionistic.

D. none of the above.

 

16. Which of the following uses a “giant order”?

A. Il Gesu

B. Saint Peter’s Square

C. Sant’Andrea al Quirinale

D. San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

 

17. What is one way in which Spanish Baroque sculpture differed from Italian Baroque

sculpture?

A. Spanish sculpture was inferior to Italian sculpture.

B. Spanish sculpture never depicted religious subject matters.

C. Spanish sculpture was often made of wood and then painted.

D. Spanish sculpture eschewed realism in favor of idealized, ephemeral beauty.

 

18. Tenebrism is a term used to describe

A. the drama and tension of Baroque art.

B. the coarse reality of some Baroque paintings.

C. the use of extreme lights and darks in Baroque painting.

D. the system of rod construction used in Baroque churches.

 

19. Which of the following artists is known for his spiritually charged still-life paintings?

A. Caravaggio

B. Cotán

C. Velázquez

D. Vermeer

 

20. Which of the following paintings is something of a manifesto on the art of painting

and the role of the painter?

A. Las Meninas by Velázquez

B. The Nightwatch by Rembrandt

C. The Oath of the Horatii by David

D. The Conversion of Paul by Caravaggio

 

21. Spanish Baroque sculpture can be best described as

A. classicizing.

B. emotionless.

C. idealizing.

D. realistic.

 

22. The tastes of an increasingly powerful middle class are evident in the art of which

culture?

A. Dutch Baroque

B. Italian Baroque

C. French Baroque

D. Flemish Baroque

 

23. Which of the following artists influenced the art of Rubens?

A. Caravaggio

B. Michelangelo

C. Renaissance artists from Flanders

D. all of the above

 

24. Which of the following types of images became increasingly popular in the Baroque

period?

A. political paintings

B. violent and dramatic images

C. images of the Virgin and Child

D. all of the above

 

25. What was distinct about the culture and therefore the art of the Dutch Republic?

A. It was Protestant.

B. It broke away from Spain.

C. It had a powerful middle class.

D. all of the above

 

26. What is one reason why Dutch Baroque paintings tended to be smaller than other Baroque

paintings?

A. Dutch Baroque paintings needed to be easily transportable.

B. Art patrons in the Netherlands could not afford larger paintings.

C. Paintings were illegal and therefore needed to be small enough to be easily hidden.

D. Smaller paintings were better suited to the private homes for which they were commissioned.  

 

27. A “genre painting” is a painting

A. that is boring.

B. that depicts an everyday scene.

C. that commemorates a historical event. 

D. that commemorates the birth of a child.

 

28. Frans Hals is most celebrated for his contributions to

A. genre painting.

B. portrait painting. 

C. still-life painting.

D. landscape painting.

 

29. Which of the following artists was one of the “Utrecht Caravaggisti”?

A. de La Tour

B. Gentileschi

C. Terbrugghen

D. Watteau           

 

30. In which of the following media did Rembrandt not work?

A. drypoints

B. etchings

C. fresco

D. oils

 

31. Which of the following artists did not draw inspiration from Italian art and artists?

A. Jefferson

B. Rembrandt

C. Wren.

D. none of the above

 

32. What advantage does drypoint have over other methods of printmaking?

A. It is less expensive.

B. It is easier to execute.

C. It creates softer, more “painterly” lines.

D. all of the above

 

33. Generally speaking, Rembrandt’s images can be said to emphasize

A. violence.

B. material wealth.

C. the power of the male body.

D. spiritual and psychological power.

 

34. How did Rembrandt’s painting style change as he got older?

A. He used more muted colors.

B. He used sharper, crisper lines.

C. He used a looser, more “painterly” style.

D. His compositions became more complicated and detailed.

 

35. Which of the following artists was famous for painting many self-portraits?

A. Bernini

B. David

C. Gentileschi

D. Rembrandt

 

36. Vermeer is famous for his

A. still-life paintings.

B. landscape paintings.

C. paintings of domestic interiors.

D. all of the above

 

37. Which of the following seemingly straightforward works of art is also

a manifesto on the art of painting and the role of the artist?

A. Velázquez’s Las Meninas

B. Vermeer’s Allegory of Painting

C. Rembrandt’s self-portrait from 1658 (at the Frick)

D. all of the above

 

38. Which of the following artists was known for his chaotic, sometimes critical scenes

of everyday domestic life?

A. Hals

B. Rubens

C. Steen

D. Vermeer

 

39. What does Gerard ter Borch seem to suggest about women in Dutch society in his

Lady at the Mirror?

A. Women were best suited to motherhood and nurturing roles.

B. Women are powerful matriarchs in charge of their domestic realm.

C. Women are evil temptresses to be feared by self-respecting gentlemen.

D. Women of a certain elevated social status were virtuous and objects of desire.

 

40. Jacob van Ruisdael’s The Jewish Cemetery is

A. a moralizing and spiritual image.

B. a commemoration of a historical event.

C. an expression of Dutch Baroque anti-Semitism.

D. all of the above

 

41. In which culture was still-life painting most prolific?

A. Neoclassical

B. Dutch Baroque

C. Italian Baroque

D. Spanish Baroque

 

42. Which still-life painter is famous for painting mainly floral still lifes?

A. Cotán

B. Heda

C. Peeters

D. Ruysch