Deck 14: Precursors of the Renaissance

Question 1

In their respective renderings of Madonna Enthroned, both Cimabue and Giotto

A) included flat, round halos that do not turn with the heads of figures.
B) depicted the infant Jesus with the proportions of an infant.
C) use draperies to suggest organic weight and form.
D) provide a naturalistic rather than a stylized depiction of human form.

Answer 1

included flat, round halos that do not turn with the heads of figures.

Question 2

On which wall of the Arena Chapel is Giotto's Last Judgment located?

A) north
B) south
C) east
D) west

Answer 2

west

Question 3

Who was commissioned to paint the Rucellai Madonna in 1285?

A) Giotto
B) Duccio
C) Cimabue
D) Pisano

Answer 3

Duccio

Question 4

Who was the central and largest figure in Duccio's Maestà?

A) Jesus
B) John the Baptist
C) St. Peter
D) Mary

Question 5

An important distinction between the Nativities and Annunciations depicted by Pisano and Giotto is that Giotto's rendering

A) shows Mary staring straight forward, drawing the viewer into the scene.
B) clutters the scene with more persons and more narrative.
C) uses fewer figures in order to enhance the dramatic essence of the scene.
D) evidences the strong influence of classical Roman poses.

Question 6

The patch of a fresco painting that an artist completed in a day was called

A) an arriccio.
B) a sinopia.
C) an intonaco.
D) a gironata.

Question 7

The most medieval element of the Arena Chapel is the

A) bodily proportions of the infant Jesus.
B) depiction of hell.
C) theatrical composition.
D) use of gazes to focus the viewer's attention on certain elements of the scene.

Question 8

An intermediary step in the production of a fresco painting was a brush drawing in red ocher pigment called

A) an arriccio.
B) a sinopia.
C) an intonaco.
D) a gironata.

Question 9

Which Italian city was ruled by the Nine and called itself the "Virgin's ancient city"?

A) Florence
B) Padua
C) Siena
D) Venice

Question 10

Which of the following elements is more characteristic of the work of Giotto than the work of Duccio, as exemplified in their respective renditions of the Kiss of Judas?

A) figures' faces turned away from the picture plane
B) long, curvilinear planes
C) exterior choreographed quality to the various figures in the scene
D) a cluttered landscape to accentuate the sparse numbers of figures

Question 11

Who painted Allegories of Good and Bad Government (1338-39)?

A) Giotto
B) Lorenzetti
C) Pisano
D) Duccio

Question 12

Like other examples of the International Gothic style, the portal of the Chartreuse de Champmol replaced statues of Old Testament figures with sculptures of

A) living persons.
B) historical figures from Classical antiquity.
C) gargoyles and devils.
D) angels.

Question 13

In late medieval wooden panel painting, before paint was applied the wood was prepared with several layers of

A) predella.
B) tempera.
C) gesso.
D) giornata.

Question 14

The Limbourg brothers' Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry is a famous example of

A) a manuscript illumination.
B) a sculpture.
C) a fresco.
D) an altarpiece.

Question 15

The Arena Chapel, site of Giotto's best-preserved work, is located in

A) Venice.
B) Florence.
C) Naples.
D) Padua.

Question 16

An important difference between the work of Duccio and that of Giotto is that Duccio's work

A) gave figures and objects a sense of weightlessness.
B) exhibited block-like sculptural forms instead of elegant ones.
C) was more cluttered and richly drawn.
D) used gold lines rather than shading to define form.

Question 17

Who sculpted the Well of Moses and other works for the Chartreuse de Champmol?

A) Duccio
B) Orcagna
C) Sluter
D) Limbourg

Question 18

As a fresco painting drew close to completion, the artists would add a final layer of smooth plaster known as

A) an arriccio.
B) a sinopia.
C) an intonaco.
D) a gironata.

Question 19

Fresco paintings begin with a layer of rough plaster called the

A) arriccio.
B) sinopia.
C) intonaco.
D) gironata.

Question 20

What theme is conveyed by Orcagna's Triumph of Death?

A) the glory of Christ's resurrection
B) the redemptive powers of Christ's blood
C) the ability of humans to gain immortality through art
D) helplessness in the face of impending doom

Question 21

The Arena Chapel is also known by the name of which person who founded it?

A) Lorenzetti
B) Rucellai
C) Scrovegni
D) Boccaccio

Question 22

In medieval and early Renaissance artwork, hell was depicted as a realm of disorder and confusion.

Question 23

Duccio's work reveals a greater indebtedness to Classical antiquity than Giotto's.

Question 24

Cimabue's Madonna Enthroned exhibits all of the following characteristics EXCEPT

A) the Christ Child depicted in the form of an adult.
B) long, thin human figures.
C) the use of gold in a manner reminiscent of Byzantine art.
D) poses and draperies that show a clear Classical Roman influence.

Question 25

Although recognized as a pivotal artist today, Giotto's work was ignored by his contemporaries.

Question 26

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, artists generally came from

A) the middle class.
B) the peasantry.
C) the aristocracy.
D) the ranks of wealthy commoners.

Question 27

A defining characteristic of the Renaissance was a

A) skeptical form of rationalism that rejected most aspects of Christianity.
B) revival of interest in Greek and Roman arts and letters.
C) self-conscious attempt to throw off the shackles of tradition and create an entirely new artistic style.
D) deliberate attempt to create art that would capture the "essence" of a given nationality.

Question 28

Who wrote The Divine Comedy?

A) Petrarch
B) Boccaccio
C) Dante
D) Giotto

Question 29

One notable quality of The Effects of Good Government at Siena's Palazzo Pubblico is its secular character.

Question 30

In terms of dimensionality, the work of Duccio was midway between that of Cimabue and Giotto.

Question 31

The Renaissance first began to emerge in what region?

A) Italy
B) Germany
C) Spain
D) France

Question 32

All of the following elements were part of the Renaissance EXCEPT

A) the rise of humanism.
B) an indifference to nature.
C) the celebration of individual artists.
D) the artistic illusion of three-dimensional space.

Question 33

After a tempera painting was completed, it had to be varnished within a few hours or the work would be ruined.

Question 34

Renaissance artists usually began their careers as apprentices performing menial chores for master artists.

Question 35

In the Arena Chapel, Giotto slyly painted his patron among the damned in hell.

Question 36

The fixed base of an altarpiece is called a

A) predella.
B) tempera.
C) wing.
D) gesso.

Question 37

Who is generally regarded as the last great Italian painter in the Byzantine tradition?

A) Giotto
B) Pisaro
C) Duccio
D) Cimabue

Question 38

In works like his sculpted marble Nativity, Pisano portrayed Christian subjects in poses reminiscent of Classical Rome.

Question 39

Several Italian cities had republican forms of government in the period leading up to the Renaissance.

Question 40

Which Classical poet guides the narrator through hell in Inferno?

A) Virgil
B) Homer
C) Horace
D) Juvenal

Question 41

Compare the works of Giotto, Duccio, and Pisano. How do their respective styles exemplify the incomplete transition from Medieval and Byzantine to Renaissance art?

Question 42

What political views are expressed in early fourteenth-century art? How do these views change as the Renaissance draws nearer?

Question 43

How did the disasters of the mid-fourteenth century affect European art? What qualities of early fourteenth-century art became more apparent in comparison to these later works?

Question 44

What were the chief characteristics of the Renaissance?

Question 45

How did the International Gothic style develop, and what were its characteristics?

Question 46

How did Giotto transform late medieval artwork?

Question 47

How did Renaissance views of art and artists differ from medieval ones?