All AP Art History Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Identifying Artists, Works, Or Schools Of Near Eastern Sculpture
What is this object called?
A cella
An apadana
A ziggurat
Cuneiform writing
A stele
A stele
This is a stele, or a stone slab used as a site marker. This particular one (The Stele of Hammurabi) was put in a centralized meeting spot in town so that all could read its message.
Image in the public domain, accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi#/media/File:Milkau_Oberer_Teil_der_Stele_mit_dem_Text_von_Hammurapis_Gesetzescode_369-2.png
Example Question #1 : Oceanian Sculpture
The large statues made from volcanic ash known as moai are found on __________.
the Hawaiian Islands
Samoa
Easter Island
Christmas Island
Easter Island
The moai of Easter Island are the small eastern Polynesian Island's most famous monuments, 887 statues with giant heads that are placed all around the island. While sharing much in common with other Polynesian sculpture, the remoteness of Easter Island and its intense tribal warfare make these symbolic monuments to ancestors larger and more stylized than other similar pieces of art.
Example Question #2 : Identifying Artists, Works, Or Schools Of Oceanian Sculpture
What were the feathered capes (or cloaks) worn by Hawaiian noble men called?
'i'iwi cape
garments of the gods
nobility cape
'ahu'ula
olona
'ahu'ula
The cloaks were called 'ahu'ula. These were capes made of red, yellow, and black feathers. They were worn during both ceremonies and battles.
Example Question #1 : Answering Other Questions About Oceanian Sculpture
The Malangan figures were not involved in ___________.
birthing rituals
affirming clan group identities
honoring the dead
negotiating land rights
birthing rituals
The Malangan figures were single use sculptures made in an island of Papua New Guinea for malangan, a set of rituals that were used to say goodbye to the dead, affirm clan identities, and negotiate land rights.
Example Question #1 : Analyzing Ancient Greek And Roman Architecture
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of ionic order temple construction?
A narrow and stylized column
Alternating triglyphs and metopes in the frieze
A tiered base at the bottom of the column
A decorative and often elaborate volute
Relief sculpture running the length of the frieze
Alternating triglyphs and metopes in the frieze
Triglyphs and metopes are a characteristic of the doric order temple, but were abandoned by the time the ionic order became the favored architectural tradition in favor of an uninterrupted frieze that could house relief sculpture.
Example Question #1 : Ancient Through Medieval Architecture
Why did the Doric order fall out of style during the height of Classical Greece?
The popularity of the Corinthian order grew such that the Doric order fell out of favor with Greek architects.
Fourth-century Athens lacked the proper building materials to continue building in this tradition.
The Classical tradition favored narrower and more aesthetically pleasing proportions.
Influence from the Macedonian empire encouraged architects to consider new building techniques.
The Peloponnesian War destroyed all of the existing Doric-order temples in the major acropolises across Greece.
The Classical tradition favored narrower and more aesthetically pleasing proportions.
The Doric order was heavy and squat. It was followed in the fourth century by the Ionic, which boasted more slender columns and longer proportions. It was considered more aesthetically pleasant than the Doric order, so Classical Greeks desired it more than the Doric order at the height of the artistic tradition from this period.
Example Question #1 : Analyzing Ancient Greek And Roman Architecture
The image above is an aerial view of the Temple of Athena Nike on the Athenian Acropolis (410-405 B.C.).
(Image by José-Manuel Benito from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Athena_Nike.)
What about the Temple of Athena Nike makes it unique as compared to the other buildings on the Athenian Acropolis?
It housed an altar for animal sacrifice and was said to constantly burn incense.
It has a cult statue of Artemis as well as Athena.
It is made entirely of marble and is the first fully Ionic temple on the acropolis.
It was supposedly built at the site at which Zeus's thunderbolt struck the ground.
Only priestesses were permitted to enter, and it was the site of female worship.
It is made entirely of marble and is the first fully Ionic temple on the acropolis.
You can see that the building is Ionic by noting the bases on the columns (the larger circles around the outside of the circles that denote columns). Most other buildings on the acropolis were made of limestone, but the small size of this temple allowed architects to use pentelic marble.
Example Question #1 : Ancient Through Medieval Architecture
What is misleading about the architectural and sculptural evidence that remains of the Greek artistic tradition?
None of the other answers is correct.
The surviving sculpture and architecture is white, but would have actually been brightly colored.
The sculpture that remains undervalues the importance Greek senators held in the community.
The architecture that remains does not properly demonstrate the depth of Greek commitment to their polytheistic religion.
The surviving pieces do not demonstrate properly the opulence of the empire.
The surviving sculpture and architecture is white, but would have actually been brightly colored.
There is evidence that the white piece found in Greece were actually brightly colored, giving us an image of Greece that is much different than the white marble we think of when we think of Classical Greece.
Example Question #4 : Analyzing Ancient Greek And Roman Architecture
Which of these statements about Greek temples is most accurate?
They were only made of stone
They were designed to be increasingly more beautiful as the worshiper went deeper into the temple area
They were designed by competing architects, each trying to outdo the previous in scale and design
They were built as gathering places for worshipers
They were designed to be seen from the outside, where they emphasized balance over mystery
They were designed to be seen from the outside, where they emphasized balance over mystery
Temples epitomized the Greek way of life. They formed a balanced and aesthetically pleasing background to the daily lives of the Greeks, not necessarily places of active worship for the masses. They were built to be seen from outside, where their harmony spoke of the rationality of life.
Example Question #192 : 3 D Art
The Parthenon in Athens is characterized by which of the following?
A perfectly square floor plan
A lack of human motifs
Slight curves in the steps and columns
Straight lines
Corinthian columns
Slight curves in the steps and columns
The Greeks discovered that the human eye will interpret certain straight lines as curved and vice versa. When someone looks at a long row of columns they will appear to be crooked. To compensate for this they made the columns bulge outward and the steps curve slightly.