Deck 7: The Renaissance in Italy

Question 1

What best expresses the central thesis of Pico's Oration on the Dignity of Man, an essential example of Italian Renaissance humanism?

A) power should be used with cunning and ruthlessness
B) human weakness is to be gently denounced with laughter
C) humanity is saved by the grace of a loving God
D) humans are free to define their own nature as brutish or divine

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Masaccio's The Tribute Money, a scene of Jesus and his disciples painted in the 1420s, is notable for its pioneering use of what technique or subject?

A) atmospheric or aerial perspective
B) the subtle colors of oil paint on wood
C) a pagan subject drawn from an ancient Roman poem
D) careful rendering of the nude human anatomy

Answer 2

A

Question 3

A citizen of Florence would most likely have pointed with pride to which of these works as a symbol of the city's achievement?

A) Brunelleschi's Cathedral dome
B) Michelangelo's Pietà
C) Machiavelli's The Prince
D) Botticelli's La Primavera (Birth of Spring)

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Who won the competition to decorate the doors of the Florence Baptistery and spent the rest of his career engaged in this monumental project?

A) Michelangelo
B) Masaccio
C) Lorenzo Ghiberti
D) Filippo Brunelleschi

Question 5

Who lost the competition to decorate the doors of the Florence Baptistery and went on to give his architectural stamp to Renaissance Florence?

A) Filippo Brunelleschi
B) Michelangelo Buonarroti
C) Masaccio
D) Filippo Ghiberti

Question 6

What statement best describes the political principles of Renaissance civic humanism?

A) deferred always to the political authority of the pope
B) vigorously opposed the influence of pagan classical teachings
C) taught always to seek family interest over the welfare of the city
D) derived from the republican ideals of ancient Romans

Question 7

What would a follower of Savonarola in the year 1497 most likely have done?

A) defended the Medicis' patronage of the arts
B) included pagan and mythological themes in his art
C) tossed a Renaissance painting onto a "bonfire of vanities"
D) approvingly compared Florence to ancient Athens and Rome

Question 8

What element or technique serves to unify and balance Raphael's School of Athens, an imagined dialogue among the great philosophers and scientists of classical antiquity?

A) a symmetrical architectural setting of receding barrel vaults
B) a foreground portrait of Michelangelo in the guise of a Greek philosopher
C) the delicate treatment of the female nude
D) the consistent use of vivid word-painting

Question 9

In what context would one expect to hear the term uomo universale--the "well-rounded" man?

A) being sung by the Sistine choir
B) describing a Renaissance courtier
C) discussing the technique of fresco painting
D) being applied to the construction of a dome

Question 10

What element of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling best represents the painting's Neoplatonic symbolism and the painter's own religious feelings?

A) the choice to paint the ceiling in fresco
B) disguised portraits of other Renaissance artists in the painting
C) the painter's idealized portrayal of the female nude
D) the theme of the spirit in conflict with flesh

Question 11

The first freestanding bronze nude sculpture since Roman antiquity is attributed to what Florentine?

A) Sandro Botticelli
B) Lorenzo Ghiberti
C) Filippo Brunelleschi
D) Donatello

Question 12

How is the Great Zimbabwe in southeast Africa best described?

A) a stone enclosure used as a royal residence
B) a marble temple built on a flattened mountain
C) a pyramidal stone altar employed for sacrifice
D) a merchant who used wealth to patronize the arts

Question 13

How is the madrigal is best defined?

A) a popular song usually in four voices
B) the musical resting point that provides resolution
C) a form of improvisational theater originating in Italy
D) a part of the Christian mass as set to music

Question 14

Where would one expect to encounter a fresco?

A) being sung by the Sistine choir
B) in the print workshop of Aldus Manutius
C) on the walls of the Vatican palace
D) being played by a court musician

Question 15

In which of these works would one encounter the technique of sfumato, a dark and hazy variation of chiaroscuro?

A) Botticelli's La Primavera (Birth of Spring)
B) Bramante's Tempietto
C) Michelangelo's Pietà
D) Leonardo's Madonna of the Rocks

Question 16

What best describes the Renaissance noblewoman Isabella d'Este?

A) the intellectual companion of Michelangelo in Rome
B) an important patron of Renaissance music and learning
C) the subject of numerous portraits by Leonardo
D) the deposed leader of Florence following the Medici era

Question 17

What northern composer served many European patrons, including Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, with his eclectic musical talents?

A) Pico della Mirandola
B) Marsilio Ficino
C) Donato Bramante
D) Heinrich Isaac

Question 18

Of the artists called by Julius II to Rome, who was employed in decorating the rooms of the walls of the pope's apartments with great frescoes, as well as archaeological excavations and other projects?

A) Donato Bramante
B) Michelangelo Buonarroti
C) Raphael Sanzio
D) Leonardo da Vinci

Question 19

The terms capella and imitation would most likely be used in a discussion of what artist?

A) Raphael Sanzio
B) Michelangelo
C) Josquin des Préz
D) Marsilio Ficino

Question 20

Machiavelli wrote in The Prince that a "prince must not keep faith when by doing so it would be against his self-interest." What would a ruler following this precept most likely do?

A) ruthlessly betray his friends to remain in power
B) consult his priest before making important decisions
C) carefully weigh the common good against his personal ambitions
D) recognize the inherent rights of citizens to life and liberty

Question 21

The deeds of Renaissance condottieri would be most relevant to a discussion of what work?

A) Brunelleschi's Cathedral dome
B) Michelangelo's Pietà
C) Machiavelli's The Prince
D) Botticelli's La Primavera (Birth of Spring)

Question 22

What best describes the significance of Sandro Botticelli's La Primavera (Birth of Spring)?

A) masterful and innovative use of linear perspective
B) application of a mysterious sfumato across the surface
C) blending of classical mythology with Christian symbols
D) a grand pictorial scheme of interlocking triangles

Question 23

In a discussion of Maddalena Casulana, what name or term would most likely be prominent?

A) chiaroscuro
B) fresco
C) civic humanism
D) madrigal

Question 24

How is the technique of imitation in Renaissance music best defined?

A) expressing the words' meaning in musical tones
B) composing in several different melodic lines
C) repeating, overlapping voices singing the same melody
D) writing several compositions in the same form

Question 25

What architect was first designated to rebuild St. Peter's in Rome and also designed the classical temple named the "Tempietto"?

A) Donato Bramante
B) Filippo Brunelleschi
C) Michelangelo Buonarroti
D) Raphael Sanzio

Question 26

Which of these works might be said to possess the quality of terribilità-a fearsome power often attributed to Pope Julius II?

A) Michelangelo's Moses
B) the School of Athens
C) Donatello's David
D) Bramante's design for St. Peter's

Question 27

A modern geologist or biologist would be most interested in which of these Renaissance works?

A) Machiavelli's Prince
B) Leonardo's Notebooks
C) Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi
D) Masaccio's Holy Trinity

Question 28

Which statement best describes Michelangelo's designs for the tomb of Julius II?

A) combines symbols of pagan and Christian wisdom
B) uses an innovative two-part shell as part of its structure
C) expresses Neoplatonic ideas about different levels of spiritual existence
D) depicts the mysterious powers of divine creation

Question 29

Which Florentine civic leader was the composer of popular carnival songs?

A) Cosimo de' Medici
B) Savonarola
C) Julius II
D) Lorenzo de' Medici

Question 30

Which of these works was executed under the patronage of the city of Florence, after a famous competition in 1401?

A) Ghiberti's Baptistery doors
B) Josquin's Ave Maria
C) Raphael's School of Athens
D) Bramante's Tempietto

Question 31

Briefly describe the social, political, and economic conditions in Italian cities that nurtured the creative spirit of the Renaissance.

Question 32

Identify the most important stylistic innovations in the arts and music that helped define the Florentine Renaissance style.

Question 33

Describe the achievement of early Renaissance sculpture.

Question 34

Summarize the rules of government prescribed in Machiavelli's The Prince.

Question 35

Compare the heroic style of the Renaissance in Rome to the early Renaissance style in Florence.

Question 36

Identify the elements of pagan and Christian values in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Question 37

Briefly discuss Michelangelo's design for the new St. Peter's as the culmination of Italian Renaissance sculpture.

Question 38

Compare the artistic styles of the early Italian Renaissance in Florence and the high Renaissance in Rome. Choosing examples from several arts or media, analyze the similarities and differences in these two phases of the Renaissance style.

Question 39

Discuss the relationship of patron and artist or philosopher during the early and high Renaissance in Italy. Discuss in detail at least three examples of this relationship and its impact on the art and ideas of the Italian Renaissance.