AP Art History

Help Questions

AP Art History › AP Art History

Questions 1 - 10
1

What is a tribune?

Upper galleries over the inner aisle for overflow crowds

Designs of Biblical scenes woven into cloth

A series of radiating chapels

Monastery courtyard with covered walkways

Explanation

Tribunes are galleries above the inner aisle that open down into the nave. These housed overflow crowds in Medieval churches, such as San Clemente in Rome.

2

Reims kathedrale

This Cathedral, built in France in 1211, is an example of which style of architecture?

Gothic architecture

Romanesque architecture

Renaissance architecture

Art Deco

Baroque architecture

Explanation

This cathedral, known as the Reims Cathedral, was built in France in the year 1211. It very accurately depicts the popular architectural trends that were popular in that time period, which is now known as the Gothic period. This period took place between the 12th and 16th centuries. Features popular in Gothic architecture that can also be seen on this cathedral are:

  1. Vertical length over horizontal length. Gothic buildings tended to be slender and tall.

  2. Pointed arches

  3. Spires and towers, especially when they come in doubles.

  4. Ornate façades

  5. Rose windows

Image citation: Photo taken by bodoklecksel (2006) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Reims\_Kathedrale.jpg

3

Semi-circular arches from the first millenneum CE are a common feature of European churches in the style of architecture known as __________.

Romanesque

Gothic

Classical

Byzantine

Explanation

Romanesque churches dominated European architecture from sometime in the mid-to-late first millennium CE until about 1200. Romanesque churches were massive stone edifices that were marked out by having their doors and windows constructed out of simple semi-circular arches. Romanesque architecture was largely supplanted by the much more ornate and imposing Gothic style in the late Middle Ages.

4

What technological discovery (or rediscovery) was necessary for the completion of the dome atop Florence's Il Duomo in 1436?

Concrete

Calculus

Flying Buttresses

Aqueducts

Steel support

Explanation

The rediscovery of concrete was the key to completing the dome atop Il Duomo. Filippo Brunelleschi found the lost recipe for concrete, a recipe that was lost in the Middle Ages; prior to the Middle Ages, concrete was used often by the Ancient Romans.

5

What is a tribune?

Upper galleries over the inner aisle for overflow crowds

Designs of Biblical scenes woven into cloth

A series of radiating chapels

Monastery courtyard with covered walkways

Explanation

Tribunes are galleries above the inner aisle that open down into the nave. These housed overflow crowds in Medieval churches, such as San Clemente in Rome.

6

Reims kathedrale

This Cathedral, built in France in 1211, is an example of which style of architecture?

Gothic architecture

Romanesque architecture

Renaissance architecture

Art Deco

Baroque architecture

Explanation

This cathedral, known as the Reims Cathedral, was built in France in the year 1211. It very accurately depicts the popular architectural trends that were popular in that time period, which is now known as the Gothic period. This period took place between the 12th and 16th centuries. Features popular in Gothic architecture that can also be seen on this cathedral are:

  1. Vertical length over horizontal length. Gothic buildings tended to be slender and tall.

  2. Pointed arches

  3. Spires and towers, especially when they come in doubles.

  4. Ornate façades

  5. Rose windows

Image citation: Photo taken by bodoklecksel (2006) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Reims\_Kathedrale.jpg

7

Unique forms of continuity in space 1913.jpg large

This sculpture is an example of what artistic movement?

Futurism

Fauvism

Cubism

Abstract Expressionism

Surrealism

Explanation

While it may bear some similar principles to movements like Surrealism and Cubism, the sculpture's emphasis on the energy of a body in motion is a prime example of Futurism, of which Boccioni was a leading artist. Fauvism is not applicable to sculpture, dealing instead with the color palette of paintings, and Abstract Expressionism largely did away with representational figures, even somewhat abstracted ones like the sculpture in question.

Image is in the public domain: http://www.wikiart.org/en/umberto-boccioni/unique-forms-of-continuity-in-space-1913

8

In Yoruba art, the most important body part portrayed in statuary is the __________.

head

hand

arm

heart

Explanation

The Yoruba culture of Southern Africa is one of the key artistic hubs of the region, and produces remarkable works in sculpture, jewelry, and masks. One chief feature is the usual focus on the head, which the Yoruba traditionally believe is the home of the entirety of the person. This belief is best reflected in Yoruba busts, which do not even feature necks or shoulders, only the head itself.

9

In order to be a conqueror in the afterlife, as he was in living life, Qin Shihuang (the First Emperor) built a tomb filled with what?

All of these

Terracotta warriors

Mercury

Jade jewelry

Gold and silver ornaments

Explanation

The mausoleum the First Emperor built in the Qin Dynasty was filled with over 7,000 terracotta statues of warriors, horses, and chariots. Archeologists also found jade jewelry and gold and silver ornaments. High levels of mercury were found in the mausoleum and indicate that it ran in troughs all throughout the building.

10

David 1475.jpg large

Who is the subject of this sculpture, a popular figure in Renaissance art?

David

Samson

John the Baptist

Hercules

Moses

Explanation

This is David, also sculpted by artists like Donatello and Michelangelo. The head of Goliath sits at David's feet. John the Baptist was also beheaded, but by Salome, a woman. Hercules and Samson tend to be represented with more muscularity, and Moses is usually an older figure.

Work is in the public domain, accessed through WikiArt: http://www.wikiart.org/en/andrea-del-verrocchio/david-1475

Page 1 of 100
Return to subject