AP Art History : AP Art History

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Art History

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Example Questions

Example Question #454 : Renaissance To Contemporary 2 D Art

Jacques louis david  le serment des horaces

On the basis of style, the work shown here can be attributed to ______________.

Possible Answers:

Jacques-Louis David

Jean-Honore Fragonard

Eugene Delacroix

Francisco de Goya

Correct answer:

Jacques-Louis David

Explanation:

Jacques-Louis David was the foremost Neoclassical painter of late eighteenth century France, who was especially well known for his history paintings, such as The Oath of the Horatii shown here. Neoclassicism was a response to the excesses and embellishments of Rococo art, finding a clarity and precision in adopting classical themes from Ancient Greece and Rome. The Oath of the Horatii is based on a story from the Roman author Livy, and David presents the work in a highly composed format which reflects on the theme of loyalty to country and family.

Artwork from Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jacques-Louis_David,_Le_Serment_des_Horaces.jpg

Example Question #581 : Ap Art History

The Florentine noble family whose members were patrons of artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Botticelli were the __________.

Possible Answers:

Habsburgs

Borgias

Medicis

Machiavellis

Correct answer:

Medicis

Explanation:

The Medicis were a banking family who gained power in Florence during the fifteenth century and held sway for over two hundred years in the Northern Italian city state. While controlling the wheels of state, the Medicis were also important patrons of important Renaissance artists, making great strides in art possible in the sixteenth century. In particular, artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Botticelli were only able to make the works they did because of the protections of the Medicis.

Example Question #2 : Answering Other Questions About Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Art

The Italian artist Caravaggio is most closely associated with __________.

Possible Answers:

the Baroque era

the Medieval era

Neoclassicalism

the Romantic era

Correct answer:

the Baroque era

Explanation:

Caravaggio (1571-1610) built on earlier Renaissance paintings that used naturalistic poses and deep use of contrast and color, but pushed them into almost new forms. Caravaggio focused on emotional themes through natural pose and extremely sharp contrasts between dark and light elements in his paintings. These refinements were key to the development of the Baroque style of the seventeenth century.

Example Question #581 : 2 D Art

File:The Nightwatch by Rembrandt.jpg          523px-j._vermeer_-_el_astr_nomo__museo_del_louvre__1688_

                                                                        Figure 3                                                                                                                                      Figure 4

The artists who created each of these paintings were __________.

Possible Answers:

Italian

French

Dutch

English

Correct answer:

Dutch

Explanation:

These paintings are two classic examples of Dutch painting from the seventeenth century: Figure 3 presents The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn (1642), and Figure 4 shows The Astronomer by Johannes Vermeer (1668). Both exhibit typical features of Dutch golden age painting, including strong contrasts and vivid colors, which are used to portray important Dutchmen of the day.

Figure 3: The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn (1642)

Figure 4: The Astronomer by Johannes Vermeer (1668)

Example Question #582 : 2 D Art

File:The Nightwatch by Rembrandt.jpg          523px-j._vermeer_-_el_astr_nomo__museo_del_louvre__1688_

                                                                        Figure 3                                                                                                                                      Figure 4

The painting shown in Figure 3 portrays __________.

Possible Answers:

town leaders

a band of militiamen

knights

a group of religious initiates

Correct answer:

a band of militiamen

Explanation:

The men in the foreground of Rembrandt van Rijn's The Night Watch all carry muskets and wave banners, indicative of militia soldiers in the seventeenth century. The captain, Frans Banning Cocq, was an actual leader of a militia, and Rembrandt intentionally captured his company. It was also intentional on the artist's part to show their supporters behind them.

Figure 3: The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn (1642)

Figure 4: The Astronomer by Johannes Vermeer (1668)

Example Question #583 : 2 D Art

 

File:Las Meninas (1656), by Velazquez.jpg          File:Francisco de Goya y Lucientes 054.jpg

                                Figure 1                                                                                              Figure 2

The painting shown in Figure 2 was created around __________.

Possible Answers:

1800

1700

1650

1750

Correct answer:

1800

Explanation:

Francisco de Goya became the court painter to King Charles IV of Spain in the 1790s, and made many portraits of the royal family until Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808. This painting, Charles IV of Spain and His Family, was made in 1801, and shows a dynasty trying to keep itself together.

Figure 1: Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez (1656)

Figure 2: Charles IV of Spain and His Family Francisco de Goya (1801)

Example Question #61 : Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Art

File:Fra Angelico 069.jpg  File:CaravaggioEmmaus.jpg

                                           Figure 3                                                                                           Figure 4

The image shown in Figure 4 was influenced by __________.

Possible Answers:

the Spanish Inquisition

Puritanism

Jansenism

the Counter-Reformation

Correct answer:

the Counter-Reformation

Explanation:

After the German priest Martin Luther inaugurated the Protestant Reformation in 1519, the Roman Catholic Church made various attempts to reinforce itself. In the mid-sixteenth century, the Counter-Reformation came about, during which Catholicism sought to address the criticisms of the Protestant Reformation while remaining loyally Catholic. Carvaggio's painting of the disciples encountering the risen Jesus at Emmaus is emblematic of this trend, as the work shows shows a realistic, devotional, and personal religion that nonetheless has a focus on mysticism and traditional Church doctrine.

Figure 3: The Annunciation (Cortona) by Fra Angelico (1433)

Figure 4: Supper at Emmaus (Milan) by Caravaggio (1606)

Example Question #461 : Renaissance To Contemporary 2 D Art

Rembrandt van Rijn most frequently painted subjects from __________.

Possible Answers:

the Bible

royal courts

ancient history

ancient mythology

Correct answer:

the Bible

Explanation:

Rembrandt van Rijn, like other Dutch Masters of the seventeenth century, painted different images from other European painters, thanks to the Netherlands' unique religious and political situation. As a Protestant-majority nation that was ruled by the Spanish monarch, court paintings, images of Roman antiquity, and classical mythology were unpopular subjects among the Dutch in the seventeenth century. As such, the most popular subjects for Rembrandt were scenes from the Bible, especially the New Testament.

Example Question #62 : Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Art

"Lapis lazuli" is the name for a stone that, when crushed into a powder, produces a paint with a vivid shade of __________.

Possible Answers:

yellow

blue

green

red

Correct answer:

blue

Explanation:

The lapis lazuli stone was mined in Afghanistan and Pakistan since the seventh millennium BCE. In the early Renaissance, it was finally imported to Europe, where the paint produced from lapis lazuli from the stone became highly valued. This paint was widely used in Renaissance art for the blue robe of the Virgin Mary; it is also widely associated with the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer.

Example Question #584 : Ap Art History

Baroque and Impressionist artists have all of the following in common except __________.

Possible Answers:

the creation of portraits 

the use of scenes from contemporary life

that they emerged in European countries

an interest in portraying overtly religious subjects

an interest in the movement and representation of light

Correct answer:

an interest in portraying overtly religious subjects

Explanation:

Impressionists had less of an interest in painting works with religious themes while Baroque artists often engaged with these themes. Impressionism emerged in France while Baroque art gained popularity across Western Europe. Both Impressionists and Baroque artists had an interest in portraiture and the everyday world. Both kinds of artists showed an interest in capturing light on the canvas. 

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