Q 01/05

In North America a classic snowman is built from how many snowballs?

A) Three

B) Four

C) Five

D) Two

Answer · why

A) Three

In the United Kingdom two spheres are the norm, one for the body and one for the head.

Q 02/05

Snow is best for packing into a snowman when it is what?

A) Fresh, dry powder

B) Close to melting and moist

C) Frozen into a hard crust

D) Mixed with sleet

Answer · why

B) Close to melting and moist

Powder will not stick to itself, so the ideal moment is the first warm afternoon after a decent snowfall.

Q 03/05

The earliest known depiction of a snowman is in a Book of Hours from which year?

A) 1150

B) 1380

C) 1520

D) 1690

Answer · why

B) 1380

The manuscript is held in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Hague; Eckstein's 2007 book The History of the Snowman grew out of a hunt through Europea...

Q 04/05

Which Renaissance artist was commissioned by Piero de' Medici to make a snowman in 1494?

A) Botticelli

B) Raphael

C) Leonardo da Vinci

D) Michelangelo

Answer · why

D) Michelangelo

The sculptor was 19 at the time; the snowman, naturally, did not survive for art historians to judge.

Q 05/05

Which city's 1511 snowman festival ended with residents building over 100 satirical, rude snow sculptures?

A) Brussels

B) Amsterdam

C) Vienna

D) Prague

Answer · why

A) Brussels

Eckstein reads it as an early form of political commentary aimed at the city's Holy Roman overlords, though the evidence melted long ago.