Q 01/05

Lascaux and Chauvet in France are famous sites of which prehistoric art form?

A) Hieroglyphics

B) Mosaics

C) Cave paintings

D) Frescoes

Answer · why

C) Cave paintings

Prehistoric cave paintings, such as those found in Lascaux and Chauvet, are among the earliest known forms of art, often featuring detailed depictions...

Q 02/05

What classical sculpture technique involves a figure standing with most of its weight on one foot, resulting in a relaxed, asymmetrical pose?

A) Sfumato

B) Contrapposto

C) Chiaroscuro

D) Foreshortening

Answer · why

B) Contrapposto

Contrapposto first appears in the Kritios Boy of about 480 BCE, which breaks from the rigid frontal stance of the earlier kouroi.

Q 03/05

Which technique, perfected in the Mona Lisa, softens edges by blending tones without hard outlines?

A) Sfumato

B) Pointillism

C) Impasto

D) Tenebrism

Answer · why

A) Sfumato

Sfumato, from the Italian sfumare, to evaporate like smoke, melts outlines into gradual tonal transitions; Correggio, Raphael and Giorgione also used ...

Q 04/05

Which Italian term names the strong contrast of light and shadow used to model volume?

A) Chiaroscuro

B) Alla prima

C) Grisaille

D) Frottage

Answer · why

A) Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro, Italian for light-dark, began as a Renaissance drawing technique on coloured paper, heightened with white gouache and deepened with ink.

Q 05/05

Which Manet painting scandalised the Paris Salon of 1865 with a frank nude whose details marked her as a prostitute?

A) Olympia

B) Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe

C) A Bar at the Folies-Bergère

D) The Fifer

Answer · why

A) Olympia

Olympia's confrontational gaze did the damage: she stares straight at the viewer, and details in the picture identified her as a prostitute.