Deck 15: The Early Renaissance

Question 1

Donatello's David contains all the following elements EXCEPT

A) implicit homosexual imagery.
B) a revival of antique forms.
C) complex religious and political allegories.
D) a bulky, masculine figure in David.

Answer 1

a bulky, masculine figure in David.

Question 2

Which is NOT an important development in Early Renaissance art and architecture?

A) the development of illusionism
B) the increased popularity of the equestrian portrait
C) the invention of one-point perspective
D) the increased use of stained glass windows

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Campin's Mérode Altarpiece exhibits all the following characteristics EXCEPT

A) the illusion of three-dimensional space.
B) a single viewpoint uniting all three panels of the triptych.
C) sharp, precise details.
D) a bourgeois setting containing everyday secular objects.

Answer 3

a single viewpoint uniting all three panels of the triptych.

Question 4

Which is NOT a feature of the Rucellai Palace?

A) pointed window arches
B) Tuscan, Ionic, and Corinthian pilasters
C) a vertical progression similar to that of the Roman Colosseum
D) a symmetrical façade

Question 5

The Ghent Altarpieceexhibits all the following characteristics EXCEPT

A) exquisite details created by oil paint applied with tiny brushes.
B) the figure of God/Christ whose importance is indicated by both position and size.
C) mathematically superior perspective compared to contemporary Italian works.
D) the use of elongated, individualized figures instead of idealized ones.

Question 6

Who authored both On Architecture and On Painting, the first Renaissance text on art theory?

A) Donatello
B) Botticelli
C) Alberti
D) Ghirlandaio

Question 7

Whose Birth of Venusexemplifies the Early Renaissance's renewed interest in pagan mythology?

A) Rogier
B) Botticelli
C) van Eyck
D) Mantegna

Question 8

Castagno's Youthful David was painted on

A) canvas.
B) a shield.
C) a banner.
D) a wall.

Question 9

Which artist's Descent from the Crossis imbued with the desire of contemporary religious movements, particularly associated with Thomas à Kempis, to achieve mystical communion with Christ's life and message?

A) van Eyck
B) Campin
C) Rogier
D) Ghirlandaio

Question 10

Which of the following statements about Uccello's Sir John Hawkwood is FALSE?

A) It was painted on the wall of a cathedral.
B) It adopts a double perspective system in its depiction of pedestal and horse and rider.
C) It condenses two narrative moments within one frame.
D) It commemorates a secular soldier of fortune.

Question 11

Hugo's Portinari Altarpiece exhibits all of the following characteristics EXCEPT

A) a languid, placid style.
B) rich, deep colors.
C) ordinary objects imbued with Christian meaning.
D) patrons depicted as larger than saints.

Question 12

Who designed the Rucellai Palace in the mid-fifteenth century?

A) Brunelleschi
B) Alberti
C) Ghiberti
D) Uccello

Question 13

Piero's portrait of Federico da Montefeltro was inspired by

A) the Roman statue of Marcus Aurelius.
B) the Augustus of Prima Porta.
C) Roman portrait busts on ancient coins.
D) the Doryphoros.

Question 14

Which artist may have painted himself both as the Man in the Red Turban and as an observer shown in a mirror's reflection in the Arnolfini Portrait?

A) van Eyck
B) Rogier
C) Masaccio
D) Donatello

Question 15

Filippo Lippi's tondo of the Madonna and Child with Scenes from the Life of Saint Anne contains all the following elements EXCEPT

A) references to antique forms.
B) orthogonal floor patterns to establish perspective.
C) a rejection of spirituality in favor of monumentality.
D) delicate, curvilinear draperies.

Question 16

In works like Piero's Annunciation, the Christian icon of the porta clausa-or "the closed door"-refers to

A) the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
B) Jesus' conquest over death.
C) the portal to Hell.
D) Saint Mary's virginity.

Question 17

Fifteenth-century Northern painting as a whole is most characterized by its

A) early abandonment of Gothic traditions.
B) fascination with Classical mythological subject matter.
C) experimentation with tempera painting techniques.
D) interest in meticulous and naturalistic detail.

Question 18

Verrocchio's statue of David differed from Donatello's in that Verrocchio's

A) is more erotic.
B) shows David having triumphed over Goliath.
C) is more angular and gawky.
D) is a nude.

Question 19

Which Florentine painter's Adoration of the Shepherds (1485) visually attests to the influence of Northern painting on the Italian Renaissance?

A) Ghirlandaio
B) Hugo
C) Masaccio
D) Piero

Question 20

Which painter employed illusionistic techniques to create immersive illusionistic environments in rooms such as the Camera Picta for the Ducal Palace in Mantua?

A) Campin
B) Piero
C) Alberti
D) Mantegna

Question 21

To what does the term Quattrocento refer?

A) the fifteenth century
B) a famous Florentine school for artists
C) a type of painting
D) the use of linear perspective to create the illusion of depth

Question 22

Who wrote the seminal Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550), an important source of information about Renaissance artists?

A) Ghiberti
B) Mantegna
C) Campin
D) Vasari

Question 23

Fifteenth-century popes were invariably hostile to the humanism and Classical revival associated with the Renaissance.

Question 24

A competition to design a set of doors for the Florence Baptistery was supervised and judged by

A) the Florentine government.
B) the Medicis.
C) the Catholic Church.
D) the wool refiners' guild.

Question 25

Whose Procession and Adoration of the Magi (1423) for an altarpiece demonstrates the continuing influence of Byzantine and International Gothic styles in Italian art even after the Renaissance had begun?

A) Masaccio
B) Donatello
C) Brunelleschi
D) Gentile

Question 26

Castagno's The Youthful David depicts Goliath's severed head with a stone embedded in it within the same frame as David rearing back to sling the stone that kills Goliath.

Question 27

Masaccio's Holy Trinity for the church of Santa Maria Novella contains all the following elements EXCEPT

A) a Byzantine fondness for complex and exotic imagery.
B) the creation of illusionistic space via orthogonals.
C) representations of two of the donors who commissioned the piece.
D) a symbolic reminder of death's inevitability.

Question 28

The Italian word condottiere refers to a sculptor or painter who mastered his trade.

Question 29

In his architectural plans for churches like Santo Spirito, Brunelleschi rejected Gothic style in favor of a return to the early Christian basilica.

Question 30

What city served as the intellectual, financial, and artistic center of Renaissance Italy throughout most of the 1400s?

A) Florence
B) Naples
C) Venice
D) Rome

Question 31

Aerial perspective creates a sense of depth by making distant objects less distinct than nearer ones.

Question 32

Which artist is credited with the Italian invention of linear or one-point perspective?

A) Masaccio
B) Gentile
C) Brunelleschi
D) Donatello

Question 33

The memento mori was a popular trope in medieval and Renaissance art, designed to remind audiences that their physical bodies must inevitably perish.

Question 34

Donatello's David depicts the young man in a moment of anticipation awaiting his battle against Goliath.

Question 35

Which highly influential Renaissance architect first gained fame as a sculptor, a career he allegedly abandoned after losing a contest to design the Florentine Baptistery doors?

A) Ghiberti
B) Brunelleschi
C) Vasari
D) Masaccio

Question 36

The biblical figure of David played such a prominent role in Early Renaissance art partly because he was adopted as a symbol of Florence.

Question 37

In art and architecture, Early Renaissance works tended to be more complex in layout, frame, and imagery than the early International Gothic style.

Question 38

How does the technique of chiaroscuro suggest volume?

A) through the use of orthogonals
B) through gradations in light and shade
C) through the position of objects in relation to each other
D) through the size of objects in relation to each other

Question 39

Oil painting became prevalent more quickly in Italy than in Northern Europe.

Question 40

Brunelleschi's architectural works exhibited all the following qualities EXCEPT

A) the use of complex mathematical ratios based on musical harmonies.
B) the use of circles and squares in building plans.
C) the use of Classical rather than Gothic piers.
D) the use of round arches rather than pointed ones.

Question 41

Discuss the humanist notion of fame, and its expression in fifteenth-century Italian art.

Question 42

Compare fifteenth-century developments in Italian paintings with those of the Netherlands. What qualities did the art of the two regions share, and how did they differ?

Question 43

Discuss the difference between monumentality and spirituality. How is each stylistic trend expressed in Renaissance art? Reference the respective Annunciations of Piero and Fra Angelico.

Question 44

Discuss fifteenth-century developments in architecture. How did Early Renaissance architecture differ from the Gothic architecture that preceded it? What elements of Classical architecture did it incorporate?

Question 45

Discuss how socioeconomic changes contributed to the development of the Early Renaissance in Italy as well as developments in fifteenth-century Dutch paintings. How did these changes affect both subject matter and style?

Question 46

Explain the principles behind one-point, or linear, perspective. How does it create a sense of depth? Which artists employed it most successfully? What other techniques were used to imply volume?

Question 47

Discuss the importance of the biblical figure of David to Early Renaissance artists. How did different artists approach the subject? What different meanings did they attach to him?