All AP Art History Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #111 : Ap Art History
Which of the following pieces is an example of a polyptych?
The Well of Moses
The Ghent Altarpiece
The Portinari Altarpiece
Saint Anthony Tormented By Demons
The Ghent Altarpiece
The Ghent Altarpiece consists of a set of folding panels and is thus called a polyptych. The Portinari Altarpiece has three panels and is therefore considered a triptych. The Well of Moses is a sculpture. St. Anthony Tormented By Demons is an engraving.
Example Question #112 : Ap Art History
Which of these terms describes the hazy, smoky lighting that creates distance between the viewer and the subject?
Tenebrism
Sfumato
Ignudi
Chiaroscuro
Sfumato
Sfumato was a High Renaissance lighting technique used by artists like Leonardo da Vinci to produce distance between the viewer and the subject of a painting. Chiaroscuro refers to the transition between light to dark in a Renaissance painting. Tenebrism is the Baroque-era contrast between shadows and light that was used by artists like Caravaggio. Ignudi is the Italian term for nude figures in Renaissance art.
Example Question #113 : Ap Art History
Which term refers to the style of painting that involves applying pigments with water to freshly plastered walls?
Fresco
Mosaic
Graffiti
Mural
Illuminated
Fresco
Artists create frescoes by painting pigments on walls while the plaster is still drying. "Illuminated" refers to decorated texts, often early religious manuscripts or other important texts. Mosaics are made by using hard materials, not paints, and graffiti art does not require a wet or drying wall. "Mural" is too broad to be the right answer.
Example Question #114 : Ap Art History
All of the following artists' paintings are notable for their use of chiaroscuro except ______________.
Rembrandt
Andy Warhol
Caravaggio
Peter Paul Rubens
Leonardo da Vinci
Andy Warhol
"Chiaroscuro" refers to a technique that makes two-dimensional shapes seem three-dimensional. Artists do this by simulating light and shadow. It is a technique commonly employed by Renaissance and Baroque artists, but less commonly seen in the Pop Art that Warhol specialized in.
Example Question #115 : Ap Art History
This egg and pigment medium is characteristic of many Italian Renaissance paintings.
Tempera
Chiaroscuro
Faience
Oil
Pastel
Tempera
Tempera is the only medium listed that uses the combination of egg and pigment. Though oil paintings became characteristic of the later Italian Renaissance, tempera was used initially due to its low cost.
Example Question #111 : Ap Art History
The theatrical form originating in fifteenth-century Italy in which actors playing well-known stock characters improvised dialogue within basic framing scenarios was known as __________.
Divertimento giocoso
Commedia dell’arte
Commedia rigoletta
Innamorati
Commedia dell’arte
Commedia dell’arte was a genre of theater in which actors playing well-known stock characters improvised dialogue within simple narratives. It gained popularity throughout Europe after originating in fifteenth-century Italy.
Example Question #112 : Ap Art History
The above painting, which was once attributed to Rembrandt, displays which characteristic commonly seen in Baroque-style paintings?
Exaggerated movement
Figures from Christianity
None of the other answers
A serene, expressionless face
Strong contrast of light and dark
Strong contrast of light and dark
This painting displays a high level of contrast between its light and dark elements. The background is very dark—nearly black—and yet the helmet glows under a hard, bright light. Although figures from Christianity and exaggerated movement are often seen in Baroque paintings, and are, in fact, commonly a defining feature, this painting is a simple Baroque portrait, and therefore does not display these characteristics. A serene, expressionless face is not a common characteristic of Baroque paintings.
Image: The Man With The Golden Helmet. Artist unknown. (c. 1650) From https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMann_mit_dem_Goldhelm.jpg.
Example Question #113 : Ap Art History
__________ was a time of great prosperity and wealth within the Dutch Republic, now known as Holland or The Netherlands. Paintings from this age display many Baroque qualities, but are generally much simpler and realistic in their imagery. Rembrandt is well known for having been a painter during this time.
The Baroque Period
The Dutch Renaissance
The Dutch Golden Age
The Dutch Bronze Age
The Rococo period
The Dutch Golden Age
A "golden age" typically refers to a time of great prosperity and wealth. The Dutch Golden Age was a time of both great prosperity for the newly independent Dutch Republic, but also a time of great creativity. Although the Dutch Golden Age occurred during the Baroque period and shares many of its characteristics, there are subtle differences, such as the realism and simplicity that marks Dutch paintings. For an example of these features, see The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer.
Example Question #114 : Ap Art History
Formed by Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Battista Alberti, this technique allowed Renaissance painters and beyond to add a sense of realism and really understand the three-dimensional space in their works.
Which Renaissance painting technique is the above sentence describing?
Linear perspective
None of the other answers
Foreshortening
Proportion
Chiaroscuro
Linear perspective
Although chiaroscuro (light and dark) and foreshortening add to the illusion of three-dimensional space, linear perspective is what actually helped Renaissance artists to understand and explore that three-dimensional space. It also inspired a large number of Renaissance artists to experiment with painting, as three-dimensional space was something no longer limited to sculpture.
Example Question #115 : Ap Art History
One of the most expensive pigments during the Renaissance was Ultramarine. It was often only used to portray royalty and nobles. Ultramarine is made from ground __________, a very rare rock primarily found in Afghanistan and its surrounding areas.
turquoise
azurite
lapis lazuli
pyrite
sapphire
lapis lazuli
Lapis Lazuli is the stone used to produce Ultramarine; it is found in Afghanistan. Though Azurite yields a similar blue, it is not found in Afghanistan and it lacks certain chemical and physical properties of Ultramarine when ground.