All AP Art History Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #5 : Answering Other Questions About Ancient Greek And Roman Architecture
What Bronze Age city is both Europe's oldest city and the original home of the Minotaur?
Thebes
Knossus
Athens
Syracuse
Knossus
Knossus is one of the most important sites in European art history, and one of the first studied for many scholars in basic art history. This question is helpful because it teaches while it asks: most students can recall or relate Knossus with the memorable Minotaur, but often do not correlate it with the Bronze Age or with being Europe's oldest city.
Example Question #6 : Answering Other Questions About Ancient Greek And Roman Architecture
Who is the figure at the top of the Column of Trajan?
Julius Caesar
Trajan
St. Peter
An unnamed Roman soldier
The god Jupiter
St. Peter
The figure at the top of the Column of Trajan is actually St. Peter. It was previously a statue of Trajan himself, but the statue went missing in the Middle Ages. It was replaced with the current bronze statue of St. Peter by Pope Sixtus V in 1587.
Image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/RomaColonnaTraiana%26BasilicaUlpia.jpg
Example Question #41 : Ancient Through Medieval Architecture
Depictions of Christ as the Pantocrator are most common in which period of art?
Byzantine
Gothic
Romanesque
Renaissance
Byzantine
Throughout the history of Christian art, Jesus Christ has been depicted in a variety of roles. During the Byzantine era, depictions of Christ as the Pantocrator, or "ruler of the world," were common. Images of the Pantocrator appear at the top or center of Byzantine hierarchical compositions, and are often flanked by angels.
Example Question #42 : Ancient Through Medieval Architecture
The deep-carved stone decorating the pillars and other structural surfaces of the Hagia Sophia, combined with the close spacing of the windows at the base of the dome, suggest what about the building?
That the cathedral's decoration was meant to contrast sharply with Islamic architecture of the same time.
Emperor Justinian instructed his architects to copy the Classical Greek style.
That the stone structures actually are not supporting the building or its dome, but it is instead floating in an otherworldly manner.
That the builders and craftsmen employed in its construction were very skilled at working with stone and glass.
That the stone structures actually are not supporting the building or its dome, but it is instead floating in an otherworldly manner.
The deep carving on the Hagia Sophia's pillars and in other decoration makes them appear hollow and too delicate to support the cathedral's weight. The close-set windows lining its golden dome's base create the illusion that the dome is floating. Together they suggest that the whole building is supported by some divine power rather than by its own structure.
Example Question #43 : Ancient Through Medieval Architecture
The building was originally a __________.
church
mosque
temple
civic building
church
The Hagia Sophia was originally built as an early Greek Orthodox church. It is difficult to consider the architecture as of a particular time period or style as it has been changed and influenced so many times. There are, however clear remnants of Greek Classical style as well as the early hints of what will become the Romanesque church style.
Image adapted from http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/hledej.php?hleda=hagia+sophia+5.
Example Question #44 : Ancient Through Medieval Architecture
This building does NOT have a(n) __________.
narthex
nave
atrium
apse
atrium
The church is a combination of central and Basilica plan. It has all of the standard additions of those styles, including the nave and apse, as almost every church of this type does. The narthex is identified as the porch-like addition opposite the apse. This church does not have an atrium, however, which would look like a long open plan that sits before the church door.
Image adapted from http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/hledej.php?hleda=hagia+sophia+5.
Example Question #5 : Analyzing Early Christian, Byzantine, And Early Medieval Architecture
The plan of this building is __________.
Romanesque
central and Basilica
Classic
longitudinal
central and Basilica
The Hagia Sophia has all the standard additions of the Basilica-plan church, including the apse opposite the door, a nave in the center, and aisles on each side. It lacks the cross-like arms of later Basilica churches. It also has a domed top and a square-ish base, which are both central-plan additions. It is unique in this way among its contemporaries.
Image adapted from http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/hledej.php?hleda=hagia+sophia+5.
Example Question #837 : Ap Art History
Construction of the building in its current form began in __________.
the sixth century BCE
the ninth century BCE
the eighth century BCE
the fourth century BCE
the sixth century BCE
The current layout of the Hagia Sophia was begun by Justinian II in 532. It was ordered after his predecessors tried and failed to build a monumental building in that area. As Justinian was largely regarded as the first Byzantine emperor, the Hagia Sophia became a seminal work for Byzantine and later Eastern Orthodoxy churches.
Image adapted from http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/hledej.php?hleda=hagia+sophia+5.
Example Question #6 : Analyzing Early Christian, Byzantine, And Early Medieval Architecture
The architect of the building was __________.
Procopius
Justinian II
Eusebius of Nicomedia
Isidore of Miletus
Isidore of Miletus
Isidore of Miletus, along with his companion the mathematician Anthemius of Tralles, was commissioned by Justinian I to create the Hagia Sophia. Anthemius died shortly before construction could begin, so Isidore continued alone. He was considered the father of the current structure, minus the Islamic artistic additions.
Image adapted from http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/hledej.php?hleda=hagia+sophia+5.
Example Question #8 : Early Christian, Byzantine, And Early Medieval Architecture
The tall, thin towers are called __________.
minarets
muezzins
muqarnas
cornices
minarets
The towers are called minarets. They are an Islamic addition to the church, added when it became a mosque in the fifteenth century after the Turks sacked Constantinople. These towers are not universal, but are common in Islamic mosque architecture.
Image adapted from http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/hledej.php?hleda=hagia+sophia+5.