Codes Hidden in Art

Arts and Music · 10 questions

Looking at a painting is one thing; reading it is another.

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1. What mathematical method made convincing depth possible in Renaissance painting?

   1. The golden ratio
   2. The sfumato technique
   3. The chiaroscuro technique
   4. One-point perspective
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   D) One-point perspective

2. What is the name of Leonardo's technique of soft, blurred transitions instead of hard outlines?

   1. Sfumato
   2. Impasto
   3. Fresco
   4. Grisaille
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   A) Sfumato

3. Which Baroque technique builds drama from strong contrasts of light and shadow?

   1. Pointillism
   2. Chiaroscuro
   3. Collage
   4. Frottage
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   B) Chiaroscuro

4. Which invention made it practical for Impressionists to paint outdoors?

   1. Electric studio lighting
   2. The portable camera
   3. Ready-made paint in tubes
   4. Synthetic canvas cloth
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   C) Ready-made paint in tubes

5. Which optical device is often proposed to explain the strange precision in Vermeer's paintings?

   1. The telescope
   2. The camera obscura
   3. The microscope
   4. The compass
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   B) The camera obscura

6. Which movement argued that a work could exist purely as an idea or instruction?

   1. Conceptual art
   2. Impressionism
   3. Cubism
   4. Baroque
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   A) Conceptual art

7. What was Cubism's central break with tradition?

   1. Using only black and white
   2. Painting on enormous canvases
   3. Showing an object from several viewpoints at once
   4. Copying reality exactly
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   C) Showing an object from several viewpoints at once

8. The theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911 played a large part in making it world famous.

   1. True
   2. False
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   A) True

9. Ancient Greek statues were originally the plain white we see today.

   1. True
   2. False
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   B) False

10. In true fresco, pigment is applied to plaster while it is still wet.

    1. True
    2. False
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    A) True