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 in which state?

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

Close to melting and moist is ideal; powder will not stick to itself, so the 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

1380: a marginal drawing in a Book of Hours of that year, held in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Hague, is the earliest known snowman image, found...

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

Michelangelo, then in his teens, was asked by Piero de' Medici in January 1494 to sculpt a snowman in the courtyard of the Medici palace, a tale recor...

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

Brussels: during the bitter winter of 1511 its residents built more than a hundred snow figures, many obscene or mocking the authorities, an episode r...