CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
FOURTEENTH-CENTURY ART IN EUROPE
18
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is depicted in Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Effects of Good Government in
the City and in the Country (Fig. 18-16)?
A. patients dying from the plague
B. war with Florentine forces
C. portraits of Sienna’s civic leaders
D. agricultural activity of various seasons
2. Which of the following was a master mason for Exeter Cathedral (Fig. 18-23)?
A. Richard de Montefort
B. Thomas of Witney
C. Thomas Aquinas
D. Nicholas of Verdun
3. Which artist was known for combining his preference for substantial bodies, oversized hands
and heads, and dour faces with the graceful quality of French Gothic style?
A. Master Hubert
B. Nicholas of Verdun
C. Heinrich Musselman
D. Master Theodoric
4. Who did the city council of Siena commission to fresco the city hall with scenes of the
government?
A. Lorenzetti
B. Duccio
C. Giotto
D. Cimabue
5. Which work represents the contemporary taste for personal items, crafted from fine materials
and richly decorated with popular subject matter?
A. Vesperbild (Pieta) (Fig. 18-24)
B. The Kiss of Judas and The Annunciation (Fig. 18-17)
C. Attack on the Castle of Love (Fig. 18-20)
D. The Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country (Fig. 18-16)
6. One of the first to demonstrate the shift to a more modern painting style, Cimabue worked in
A. Florence.
B. Sienna.
C. Pisa.
D. Venice.
7. Modeling, which allows artists to simulate three-dimensional forms in painted figures, is
A. the use of light and dark pigment tones.
B. the use of live models so artists could closely observe natural details.
C. the texturing of paint with a stippling brushstroke.
D. thickly applying paint in small areas.
8. Which stylistic characteristic distinguishes fourteenth-century figure painting in Siena from
that produced in Florence?
A. the use of modeling to suggest three-dimensional forms
B. the placement of figures in naturalistic and architectural settings
C. an emphasis on jewel-like coloring and elegantly posed forms
D. the use of tempera paint on small-paneled altarpieces
9. How did the artists convey that the angel Gabriel is speaking to Mary in the Annunciation
(Fig. 18-13) by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi?
A. They included iconographic details that symbolize Gabriel’s message.
B. They placed the figures in a conversational pose.
C. They incised scriptural text into the gold-leaf gesso.
D. They referenced the chapter and verse from Luke in the framework.
10. In fourteenth-century Germany, what factor contributed to the mystical religiosity that
inspired images emphasizing both ecstatic joy and extreme suffering?
A. famine, wars, and plagues
B. a new ruler
C. the death of the pope
D. Islamic invasions
11. Which of the following probably influenced Giotto’s emphasis on human empathy and
emotion seen in his painting?
A. his study with Cimabue
B. the writings of Cennino Cennini
C. the message of St. Francis of Assisi
D. the height of Gothic Cathedrals
12. What element of the standing gilt-silver Virgin and Child (Fig. 18-19) is distinctive of French
sculpture in the fourteenth century?
A. the use of the fleur-de-lis as a reliquary
B. the S-curve of the Virgin’s figure
C. the use of gold, silver, and enamel
D. the child’s tender gesture
13. What characteristic introduced by the Parler family came to dominate central European
architecture during the Renaissance?
A. intricately patterned vaults that unified interior space
B. clustered colonnettes that made the arcade seem to ripple
C. fortified walls and large towers
D. elongated naves and flying buttresses
14. Which of the following themes is found in Giotto’s program of frescoes decorating the
Scrovegni Chapel (Fig. 18-7)?
A. scenes from Dante’s Inferno
B. the Virtues and Vices
C. scenes of David and Goliath
D. scenes from Genesis
15. Applying water-based paints to the wet plaster of a wall is known as
A. tempera.
B. fresco secco.
C. buon fresco.
D. intonaco.
16. Which city did Charles IV make the capital of the Holy Roman Empire?
A. Paris
B. London
C. Munich
D. Prague
17. Located in the city hall in Siena, the council room was known as the
A. Porta Romana.
B. Sala della Pace.
C. the Campo.
D. Scrovegni Chapel.
18. Which event wiped out 40 percent of Europe’s population in the middle of the fourteenth
century?
A. Black Death
B. Peasants’ War
C. Hundred Years’ War
D. Great Schism
19. According to Petrarch and his contemporaries, the essential qualification for a writer was an
appreciation of authors of which culture?
A. Mesopotamia and Egypt
B. England and Rome
C. Greece and Rome
D. Persia and Constantinople
20. In the buon fresco technique, what term refers to a section or day’s work?
A. dado
B. grisaille
C. sinopia
D. giornata
21. Duccio’s representation of the Raising of Lazarus (Fig. 18-11) contrasts with Giotto’s
portrayal of the same subject in the
A. simplification to only a few characters.
B. expressive gestures and charged glances.
C. monumentality of the figures.
D. representation of majestic architecture.
22. What did Duccio include in his scene of the Betrayal of Jesus (Fig. 18-12) on the back of the
Maestà?
A. several subsequent episodes
B. only a few figures
C. an expansive architectural backdrop
D. his own self-portrait
23. According to folklorists, the figures at the bottom of the page of the Annunciation by Jean
Pucelle are
A. the infant Jesus and John the Baptist.
B. children of the patrons.
C. children playing “froggy in the middle.”
D. angels foreshadowing Jesus’ imminent death.
24. According to art historian Millard Meiss, artists working after the Black Death reverted to
A. a softly modeled style.
B. highly detailed naturalism.
C. classically posed figures.
D. hierarchic linearity.
25. What did the designer of the vaults of Exeter Cathedral add as additional ribs?
A. plate tracery
B. rosettes
C. tiercerons
D. bosses
Short Answer
1. What was the role of guilds during the fourteenth century?
2. What were the primary artistic influences on fourteenth-century Italian painters?
3. Discuss The Allegory of Good Government in the City and in the Country (Fig. 18-1) in the
Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. Consider the technique, the subject matter, and the commission itself.
4. Who was Geoffrey Chaucer and what was his contribution to literature?
5. Discuss the techniques of buon fresco and fresco secco, citing examples of each.
6. What was the impact of the Black Death on the arts in fourteenth-century Europe?
7. How did the Holy Roman Empire change during the fourteenth century?
8. Discuss the change in patronage practices in fourteenth-century France. How did these
changes impact the arts?
9. Discuss the different phases of construction for Exeter Cathedral.
10. Who was Christine de Pizan? In what ways did she contribute to her profession and to her
era?
Essay
1. Discuss the major developments in fourteenth-century Europe, in general, and then focus on
one that clearly impacted the arts. Build your discussion on specific works of art, using visual
and historical analysis.
Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It
2. Compare and contrast the approaches of Cimabue and Giotto to depictions of the human figure
and the surrounding space in terms of style, technique, and composition
Answer:
3. Discuss the creation of Duccio’s Maestà (Fig. 18-10). Address specifics, such as its purpose,
its size, the style, the technique, and subject matter. What is its present-day condition?
4. Discuss the Small Ivory Chest with Scenes from Courtly Romances (Fig. 18-19, 18-20, and 18-
21) in terms of style, technique, composition, and content.
5. Discuss the civic layout of Florence, including the Palazzo della Signoria and the doors of the
Baptistery of San Giovanni.