Deck 12: Renaissance Ideals and Realities,c.1350–1550

Question 1

Humanists such as Alberti praised the nuclear family and argued that women should be:

A) consigned purely to domestic roles.
B) allowed to work as painters and sculptors.
C) encouraged to adopt children rather than raise their own.
D) educated and participate in public life as they were able.
E) able to rule as equals with men.

Answer 1

consigned purely to domestic roles.

Question 2

Which of the following Renaissance humanists proved that the Donation of Constantine was a medieval forgery?

A) Petrarch
B) Leonardo Bruni
C) Leon Battista Alberti
D) Lorenzo Valla
E) Marsilio Ficino

Answer 2

Lorenzo Valla

Question 3

Renaissance Neoplatonists sought to combine classical Platonic thought with:

A) vigorous diplomatic training and public service.
B) Islamic mysticism,theology,and ritual.
C) ancient mysticism and mainstream Christianity.
D) a rejection of the Jewish Kabbalah.
E) the precepts of the Jewish Kabbalah.

Answer 3

ancient mysticism and mainstream Christianity.

Question 4

Renaissance Italy invested heavily in art and culture because:

A) Italy was more prosperous in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries than it had been earlier and so had more money to spend.
B) cities and their rulers competed with each other in constructing public monuments and patronizing artists and authors.
C) Italy was in an economic depression,so there was nothing else to spend money on except for art.
D) Italy was trying to compete with France,which had a long tradition of supporting artists and authors.
E) Italian merchants realized the potential for great returns on their investment in painting and sculpture.

Question 5

Historians today generally use the term Renaissance to refer to a period:

A) in economic history when trade was reborn.
B) in European history when the northern countries dominated the culture of the Continent.
C) in European history between 1300 and 1550,during which all aspects of European life were united by a common spirit of the age.
D) of intellectual rebirth after the Dark Ages,when learning had been extinguished.
E) in intellectual and cultural history,marked by a new interest in the study of classical learning.

Question 6

Although medieval scholars knew important classical authors such as Virgil and Cicero,the works of _________ were not fully known in western Europe until the Renaissance.

A) Aristotle
B) Plato
C) Ovid
D) Paul
E) Plutarch

Question 7

_________ taught that people could achieve salvation through the exercise of their unique talents.

A) Marsilio Ficino
B) Lorenzo Valla
C) Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
D) Niccolò Machiavelli
E) Leonardo Bruni

Question 8

Niccolò Machiavelli was:

A) a great prose stylist in the vernacular.
B) an accomplished textual scholar.
C) the era's greatest philosophical pragmatist.
D) a pagan,not a Christian.
E) well acquainted with Arabic literary styles.

Question 9

As evidenced by The Prince,Machiavelli believed that the best form of government would be:

A) an absolute dictatorship,since human beings are incapable of ruling themselves.
B) a constitutional government providing equality for citizens and subordinating religion to the service of the state.
C) a monarchy under a suitable ruler such as Cesare Borgia.
D) an oligarchy,since there are very few people in any society capable of governing.
E) an anarchy,since the strongest in any society will always have their way over the weak.

Question 10

After Giotto's death,the next great Florentine painter was:

A) Sandro Botticelli.
B) Leonardo da Vinci.
C) Giovanni Bellini.
D) Masaccio.
E) Donatello.

Question 11

The great influx of Greek manuscripts from the Muslim world in the fifteenth century led to the development of a new interest in a form of literary analysis known as:

A) close reading.
B) New Criticism.
C) postmodernism.
D) textual criticism.
E) deconstructionism.

Question 12

According to Machiavelli,the ideal form of government for his native city of Florence was:

A) a republic modeled on the Roman example.
B) an oligarchy modeled on Venice.
C) a monarchy modeled on France.
D) a principality,the model of which he sketched in The Prince.
E) a republic modeled on Plato's Republic.

Question 13

One of the first handbooks of conduct written appeared during the period of the Renaissance and dealt with:

A) the proper behavior for students attending university.
B) guidelines for proper aristocratic conduct.
C) the proper role for wives in running their households.
D) the way children were to behave: be seen and not heard.
E) the proper conduct for religious pilgrims at religious shrines.

Question 14

The Renaissance originated in Italy because:

A) Greek was still a common language among educated Italian elites.
B) in the fourteenth century the papacy was the center of cultural and artistic innovation in Europe.
C) during the later Middle Ages,Italy was the wealthiest urban society in Europe.
D) during the later Middle Ages,Italian schools were among the weakest in Europe.
E) the ancient texts that were being recovered were all in Latin,the language of Italy.

Question 15

The early humanist Petrarch criticized late-medieval scholasticism because he felt it:

A) concentrated more on virtuous living than abstract speculation.
B) concentrated more on abstract speculation than virtuous living.
C) focused too much on Christianity and salvation.
D) encouraged a solitary life of contemplation and asceticism.
E) was much too worldly in its approach to education.

Question 16

Machiavelli admired Cesare Borgia for his:

A) civic-mindedness and sense of duty.
B) military achievements and humility.
C) Christian morality tempered with a willingness to avenge wrongs.
D) levity and immorality.
E) ruthlessness and shrewdness.

Question 17

In contrast to the civic humanists,Castiglione's Courtier stressed as the hallmark of true nobility:

A) strenuous public service on behalf of the city-state.
B) an ideal of effortlessness and elegance at court.
C) the necessity for a courtier to be an accomplished scholar.
D) a disdain for women who sought to play roles outside the private household.
E) the ability to take as lovers as many of the women at court as possible.

Question 18

Renaissance painting techniques of the fifteenth century included:

A) the use of light and dark shading.
B) the application of oil-based pigment on canvas.
C) precise anatomical renderings of the human body.
D) the use of linear perspective to depict three dimensions.
E) all of these

Question 19

Marsilio Ficino taught that human beings are capable of attaining their own salvation:

A) by understanding the separation of their souls from their bodies.
B) through a complete rejection of this world and constant prayer and solitude.
C) by engaging fully in ethical civic action.
D) through participating in all the sacraments.
E) by exercising their own talents to the fullest degree possible.

Question 20

The art of the period known as the Renaissance is noted for its development of:

A) vanishing point perspective.
B) the use of light and shade.
C) portrait paintings.
D) study of anatomy and the proportions of the human body.
E) all of these

Question 21

Sculpture during the Renaissance broke with the past in that statuary:

A) would now be created only to use as memorials for those who had died.
B) could now be used as a part of tombs to honor the dead.
C) would now be incorporated into the supporting columns of triumphal arches.
D) could now be used instead of columns at the front of buildings.
E) now became freestanding figures "in the round."

Question 22

In the fifteenth century,the majority of the great painters were from:

A) Venice.
B) Rome.
C) Pisa.
D) Florence.
E) Naples.

Question 23

A contributing economic factor in the decline of Renaissance Italy was the:

A) trial of Galileo.
B) High Renaissance censorship of Pope Paul IV.
C) Spanish payments of gold and silver to the people of Milan.
D) gradual shift of trade routes from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.
E) destruction of Rome in 1529.

Question 24

The philosophy Rabelais expressed in Gargantua and Pantagruel can best be described as:

A) crude satire and exaggerated naturalism.
B) Christian muralist.
C) Neoplatonism.
D) monastic asceticism.
E) Neoclassicism.

Question 25

As a textual scholar,Erasmus's crowning achievement was his:

A) edition of the New Testament in Greek and in Latin.
B) edition and translation of Plato's dialogues.
C) Colloquies.
D) commentary on the works of Cicero.
E) commentary on Utopia.

Question 26

Leonardo da Vinci's basic approach to painting was to:

A) produce as much saleable artwork as possible for his patrons.
B) emphasize the emotional content by distorting proportion and scale.
C) depict one central mood or emotion in each piece.
D) imitate nature as closely as possible.
E) relate his impression of his subject rather than simply duplicating it.

Question 27

One important difference between the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance that followed was the northern:

A) reluctance to compose classical Latin prose in the style of Cicero.
B) appreciation for scholasticism and its central texts.
C) rejection of the church fathers as religious authorities.
D) interest in traditional Christian wisdom over classical virtues.
E) rejection of classicism in their approach to art.

Question 28

By 1529 Italy had fallen under the control of:

A) Louis XII,king of France.
B) Francis I,king of France.
C) Pope Clement VII.
D) an alliance of independent city-states led by Milan,Florence,and Venice.
E) Charles V,king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor.

Question 29

Erasmus's work The Praise of Folly is written in the style of:

A) a serious moral treatise meant to offer guidance.
B) a scholarly edition of a basic Christian text.
C) a clever satire meant to show people the error of their ways.
D) parody of the books of the Christian Old Testament.
E) all of these: it contains elements of all four styles.

Question 30

As the Church became gradually more intolerant of the humanists,many Christian humanists:

A) embraced Protestant church reforms and became Protestants.
B) abandoned their humanistic studies in order to concentrate on church reform.
C) remained Catholic,while continuing to espouse their ideals of no ritualistic inward piety.
D) were silenced by the Inquisition.
E) worked as teachers in the various courts of Europe.

Question 31

The literature of the Northern Renaissance and poets of England and France:

A) broke completely with the past and created totally new forms of literature such as free verse.
B) developed many of the literary forms of the past,but also developed new forms such as the sonnet.
C) kept the literary forms developed during the Italian Renaissance,such as the sonnet,but also created one new form,the novel.
D) worked to develop the forms pioneered during the Italian Renaissance.
E) consisted,for the most part,in translating the new creations of Italy and the classical works of Greece.

Question 32

Which of the following Renaissance artists was most deeply influenced by the art of classical Greece?

A) Donatello
B) Michelangelo
C) Leonardo da Vinci
D) Botticelli
E) Titian

Question 33

Although born in Florence,Leonardo da Vinci ended his career in:

A) Germany,where Charles V was his patron.
B) Milan,where the Sforza duke was his patron.
C) Rome,where the pope was his patron.
D) Naples,where the king of Spain was his patron.
E) France,where the king,Francis I,was his patron.

Question 34

Raphael's School of Athens is of interest in part because:

A) many of Raphael's contemporaries are used as models for the various philosophers.
B) it is the first painting to make use of the newly discovered technique of single-point perspective.
C) it was the first painting to be completed in Italy using the new medium of oil.
D) it was the last painting of the Italian Renaissance done using the fresco technique.
E) Raphael utilized many of his apprentices to complete the work rather than work on it directly.

Question 35

Erasmus's subject in his book Colloquies was:

A) the art and architecture of his time.
B) scholastic learning.
C) dogmatism.
D) contemporary religious practices.
E) Christian pacifism and piety.

Question 36

The author of Utopia was:

A) Desiderius Erasmus.
B) Sir Thomas More.
C) Ulrich von Hutten.
D) Lorenzo Valla.
E) Guillaume de Machaut.

Question 37

Erasmus wrote works of all the following types EXCEPT:

A) humorous satires and dialogues.
B) Christian moral treatises.
C) letters to friends and contemporaries.
D) treatises of scholastic theology.
E) a Greek New Testament.

Question 38

During the first half of the sixteenth century,the most important artistic center in Renaissance Italy was:

A) Rome.
B) Florence.
C) Milan.
D) Venice.
E) Naples.

Question 39

Titian was a member of the so-called:

A) Platonic school of Athens.
B) Roman school serving the papacy.
C) Venetian school of the High Renaissance.
D) Florentine school of the High Renaissance.
E) Platonic School of Florence.

Question 40

The first freestanding nude sculpture in western Europe since antiquity was created by the Florentine artist:

A) Donatello.
B) Michelangelo.
C) Leonardo da Vinci.
D) Botticelli.
E) Titian.

Question 41

Erasmus believed that the entire society of his day was caught up in despair because of the inflexibility of ecclesiastical reform.

Question 42

The humanists' insistence on ancient standards of Latin grammar and word choice turned Latin into a dead language.

Question 43

Rabelais cloaked his satire in a common form of French and layered his message in vulgarity to reach a wide audie.

Question 44

Painting in oil rather than fresco gave the artist more time to work slowly and incorporate more complexities into a painting,as drying time was longer.

Question 45

A "Renaissance Man" as defined in Castiglione's book The Courtier was considered to be one who could subordinate his personal morality to political ends.

Question 46

The Renaissance intellectual ideal may be summarized in the term humanism.

Question 47

Albrecht Dürer was the first northern European artist to master Italian Renaissance:

A) developments in oil painting.
B) techniques of engraving.
C) techniques of proportion,perspective,and modeling.
D) anatomical precision of nudes.
E) technique of tempura painting.

Question 48

What factors combined to make the Renaissance possible?

Question 49

Leonardo da Vinci revered nature and all living things to the point of becoming a vegetarian.

Question 50

The Northern Renaissance artist who did portraits of Erasmus and Sir Thomas More was:

A) Hans Holbein the Younger.
B) Albrecht Dürer.
C) Rogier van der Weyden.
D) Guillaume de Machaut.
E) Hans Holbein the Elder.

Question 51

What differences separated the twelfth-century renaissance from the Italian Renaissance?

Question 52

The Renaissance transformed the _________ aspects of European life.

A) political and economic
B) religious
C) intellectual and artistic
D) religious and political
E) religious,political,and economic

Question 53

Michelangelo's David was created to celebrate Florentine civic ideals.

Question 54

Petrarch thought the goal of a Christian writer was to inspire people to do good rather than concentrate on abstract speculation.

Question 55

Renaissance architects favored the Romanesque style,mistakenly believing it to be Roman and not medieval in origi.

Question 56

Machiavelli,in his book Discourses on Livy,attempted to show why the form of government of the old Roman Republic was unsuited to the Europe of his time.

Question 57

The Platonic Academy was a society of scholars who met to discuss politics.

Question 58

Thomas More was put to death for not allowing Henry VIII to remarry.

Question 59

In the Renaissance,classics were never thought of as superseding Christian faith.

Question 60

The tenets of humanism influenced the geometrical proportion of the floors of the great buildings because they reflected the harmony of the universe.

Question 61

In what ways did Erasmus embody the ideals of the Northern Renaissance?

Question 62

How was Utopia a critique of sixteenth-century society?

Question 63

In what ways did Leonardo da Vinci represent the ideal "Renaissance man"?

Question 64

What was distinctively northern in the art and architecture of the Renaissance?

Question 65

What new techniques characterized Renaissance art?

Question 66

What factors led to the decline of the Renaissance?

Question 67

How did humanism help to usher in the tenets of Protestantism?

Question 68

Why did the Renaissance develop first in Italy?