Art History Quiz: Key Concepts and Works

Art that Shocked the World

• Art's origins tied to love of beauty, later used for spiritual purposes, shamanistic rites, securing divine intervention
• Religions imposed detailed rules on art; various religions created magnificent art across cultures
• Western art initially focused on depicting a Catholic universe. Pope Gregory I established its function to spread faith through religious images and stories
• 16th century saw Protestant Church establishment, rivalry between Catholicism and Protestantism, and a fight for moral superiority which intensified scrutiny on art
• Counter Reformation by the Council of Trent aimed to remove profanity and elevate religious art
• Renaissance period expanded artistic freedom and confidence for artists

Sacrilege

• Art's role in society is decreasing; profane, lay, and anti-clerical subjects are accepted
• Blasphemy remains a source of controversy

The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden (1427)

• Fresco by Masaccio, a pioneer of Renaissance humanist thought
• Placed humans at the center of creation
• Religious painting with human figures
• Depicted in the Brancacci Chapel of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy
• Figures sized according to perspective

Saint Sebastian (1526)

• Painting by Fra Bartolomeo
• Removed violence and suffering, focusing on Saint Sebastian's sensual body
• Depicted in all reverence in a church, but subsequently swiftly removal
• Demonstrated a graceful, languid pose with prominent muscles and exposed genitals using gauze

The Last Judgement (1536-1541)

• Fresco by Michelangelo Buonarroti
• Commissioned by Pope Julius II for the Sistine Chapel ceiling and by Pope Clement VII for the altar wall
• Criticized for its nudity and depiction of Hell; intended to make the world more respectable

The Feast in the House of Levi (1573)

• Painting by Veronese found in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice
• Depicts Christ's Last Supper in a lavish, bustling banquet
• Angered the Inquisition for being profane

The Death of the Virgin (1601-1605/1606)

• Painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
• Found in the Louvre, Paris
• Depicts the Virgin Mary as a drowned prostitute, fished from the Tiber river, with exposed body and legs
• Represents an everyday scene of death

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647-1652)

• Sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
• Found in the Cornaro Chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome
• Embodies baroque with dramatic tension, intricacy, and movement
• Controversial due to the ambiguous nature of Saint Theresa's reaction, depicting divine ecstasy with feelings of pleasure and pain.

Divina Tragedia (1865-1869)

• Painting by Paul Chenavard
• Found in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris
• Depicts the death of pagan gods rendered obsolete by Christianity
• Shows death lunging at the Christian Trinity
• Presents complicated religious symbolism that seemed to reject Catholicism

Immersion (Piss Christ) (1987)

• Photograph by Andres Serrano, found in the Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris
• Depicts a crucifix immersed in urine
• Provoked controversy, labeled "government-funded blasphemy"

Poleteismo (2011)

• Mixed-media collage by Mideo Cruz
• Displayed during the "Kulo" Art Exhibit, sponsored by the Cultural Center of the Philippines
• Depicts worship of relics and idolatry through history with a modern lens, criticized for being blasphemous

Political Incorrectness

• Art serves as an instrument of offensive/defensive conflict, reliant on the power-holders' generosity
• Art and politics often conflict due to mistrust or contempt
• Art invariably reflects societal values, biases, desires, and anxieties

The Raft of the Medusa (1819)

• Painting by Théodore Géricault, found at the Louvre, Paris
• Depicts the violence of the raft and the victims' suffering
• Highly-criticized for striving for realism

Liberty Leading the People (1830)

• Painting by Eugène Delacroix, found at the Louvre, Paris
• Depicts sympathy for the Revolution's values
• Shows the violence of the Revolution though the choice of subject, the Phrygian cap on the woman's head, the stripped corpses, the smoke, and the violence

Gargantua (1831)

• Lithograph by Honoré Daumier
• Accuses those in power of squeezing people dry
• Shown through caricature paintings

Balzac (1897)

• Sculpture by Auguste Rodin
• Found at the Musée d'Orsay, Paris
• Portrays Balzac with a rough and slightly distorted style to convey his emotional state

The Trench (1920-1923)

• Painting by Otto Dix
• Depicts the horrors of war with mass graves, abandoned corpses, dismembered bodies, eviscerated torsos, and eyeless faces
• Shown in the “degenerate art” exhibition in 1937

One-Thousand-Yen Note Trial Impound Object: Mask (1963)

• Work by Genpei Akasegawa
• Avant-garde artist who made imitations of banknotes and turned them into artistic works
• Criticized for interfering with the function of a major instrument of the state

Him (2001)

• Sculpture by Maurizio Cattelan
• Depicts recognizable historical figures and masters of modern art
• Exhibited in the old Warsaw Ghetto, shocking and insulting Jewish victims of the Nazi's

Transgressions

• Beauty is a way of death; strangeness/intensity/shock supplant beauty.
• Breaking art's rules oversteps representation and creativity
• 19th-century artistic controversies increased
• Romanticism raised artists to leaders, rebels, and prophets, diminishing the influence of Church and European monarchies

Fountain (1917/1964)

• Readymade by Marcel Duchamp
• An everyday object transformed into art
• Presented to the Society of Independent Artists in New York

One: Number 31 (1950)

• Painting by Jackson Pollock, found in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
• Known for his dripping and pouring techniques
• Professed a belief in radical abstraction

Merde d'artiste (1961)

• Work by Piero Manzoni
• Contains 90 cans of artist’s excrement, numbered, and signed
• A contract of confidence is between the artist and purchaser

For the Love of God (2007)

• Work by Damien Hirst
• Known as a "shockaholic"
• Depicts a platinum cast of a skull studded with diamonds
• Controversial due to its high cost and deemed a publicity stunt

Helena (2000)

• Work by Marco Evaristti
• Food mixers in place of goldfish bowls
• Aims to draw in different categories of viewers

Balloon Dog (Magenta) (1994-2000)

• Sculpture by Jeff Koons
• A three-meter-high balloon dog in amidst of all the marble, mirrors, gilding and sumptuous fountains displayed at the Château de Versailles

Body Worlds Exhibition (2009)

• Works by Günther von Hagens
• Fascinated by the human body and its functions
• Invented plastination, solidifying bodies for display in particular scenes or positions

Test your knowledge of significant themes and moments in art history, from the influence of the Renaissance to modern expressions. This quiz covers crucial works, artists, and the evolution of sacred and secular art. Engage with questions about notable pieces and their cultural impacts.