CHAPTER NINETEEN
FIFTEENTH-CENTURY ART IN NORTHERN
EUROPE
19
Multiple Choice
1. Who were the most powerful rulers and art patrons in northern Europe for most of the fifteenth
century?
A. dukes of Normandy
B. earls of Hampden
C. dukes of Windsor
D. dukes of Burgundy
2. An altarpiece which has multiple, movable wings, attached to the altar’s central, stationary
section is known as a
A. diptych.
B. triptych.
C. predella.
D. polyptych.
3. Although no signed paintings by Rogier van der Weyden exist, art historians use a painting of
which subject to establish the characteristics of his art?
A. Annunciation
B. Deposition
C. Last Judgment
D. Virgin and Child
4. The technique of engraving on metal in which the lines are cut into the metal plate with sharp
tools is called
A. intaglio.
B. gouging.
C. sinopia.
D. giornata.
5. Which of the following belonged to the second generation of Flemish painters?
A. Jan van Eyck
B. Robert Campin
C. Petrus Christus
D. Roger van der Weyden
6. The second generation of Flemish painters was largely responsible for
A. the development of a fee structure for commissions.
B. the rapid spread of the Flemish style through Europe.
C. the introduction of oil paint in Italy.
D. a shift to more complex compositions.
7. What element of Claus Sluter’s Well of Moses (Fig. 19-3) signaled a break with the
International Gothic style?
A. the unpainted stone
B. the detailed naturalism
C. the individualized figures
D. the flowing drapery
8. How did the artists visually distinguish the duke of Berry in the illustration for the calendar
page for January in the Très Riches Heures (Fig. 19-6)?
A. hieratic scale
B. a written inscription above him
C. the banner with heraldic arms above him
D. his position in the center of the composition
9. Where did painters perfect the technique of painting with an oil medium?
A. Italy
B. Portugal
C. England
D. Flanders
10. How does Martin Schongauer intensify the moment portrayed in his The Temptations of St.
Anthony (Fig. 19-28)?
A. placing the action in a panoramic landscape
B. implying circular motion around the main figure
C. arranging the figures into a pyramidal shape
D. adding short parallel lines in the background
11. What symbolic meaning is suggested in the “Hunt of the Unicorn” series of tapestries (Fig.
19-8)?
A. the Annunciation
B. the Deposition
C. the Miracle at Cana
D. the Resurrection
12. How are peasants depicted in the Très Riches Heures (Fig. 19-5)?
A. They are wealthy and lavishly dressed.
B. They are happily working or amusingly uncouth.
C. They are crude and uncivilized.
D. They are servants to the upper classes.
13. What do scholars know for certain about Jan van Eyck’s Double Portrait of Giovanni
Arnolfini and His Wife (Fig. 19-1)?
A. the couple was quite wealthy
B. the work celebrates the couple’s wedding
C. the couple’s identity
D. the painting originally hung in the couple’s home
14. How does the manuscript page Mary at Her Devotions from the Hours of Mary of Burgundy
(Fig. 19-7) reflect religious practice of the period?
A. It highlights her close relationship with the priest.
B. The church setting underscores her regular attendance at Mass.
C. Her spiritual vision comes through private meditation.
D. The light through the window symbolizes God’s presence.
15. What detail of the Mérode Altarpiece (Fig. 19-10) indicates that the scene of the
Annunciation is a religious vision of the donors’?
A. the enclosed garden
B. the opened door
C. the mousetrap
D. the pages of Mary’s book
16. The printing technique of engraving probably derived from workers in what trade?
A. stained glass
B. goldsmithing
C. potters
D. sculptors
17. Which naturalistic device did Hugo van der Goes use in the Portinari Altarpiece (Fig. 19-
19)?
A. a gold leaf background
B. a vision of Christ as Judge
C. atmospheric perspective
D. consistent scale
18. Which feature is characteristic of French painting in the fifteenth century?
A. elaborate details and complex iconography
B. a reserved detachment among the figures
C. an emphasis on symmetry and geometric patterns
D. the use of Gothic architectural settings
19. Patrons in Germanic lands preferred altarpieces that featured
A. panel paintings similar to those of Flemish masters.
B. other worldly images evoking Christian mysticism.
C. polychromed wood sculpture and carvings.
D. an icon of the Virgin and Child.
20. An altarpiece may be placed on a base, known as a
A. mensa.
B. diptych.
C. manuscript.
D. predella.
21. What was first achieved in the workshop of Johann Gutenberg in Germany?
A. relief printing
B. engraving
C. movable-type printing
D. block books
22. What feature is used to unite the interior and exterior spaces and draw the viewer into the
painting in Petrus Christus’s A Goldsmith in His Shop (Fig. 19-17)?
A. vase of lilies
B. water basin
C. coconut
D. mirror
23. Which church of is an outstanding example of the Flamboyant style?
A. Saint-Maclou
B. St. Wolfgang
C. Cathedral of Ghent
D. St. Stephen’s
24. Why did Philip the Bold commission the Chartreuse de Champmol?
A. to hold his manuscript collection
B. to attract Franciscan monks
C. to rival local churches
D. to house his family’s tombs
25. What represents the complicated collaboration among scholars, artists, and investors in the
history of printed books?
A. The Buxheim St. Christopher (Fig. 19-27)
B. Nuremberg Chronicle (Fig. 19-29)
C. The Temptations of St. Anthony (Fig. 19-27)
D. St. Wolfgang Altarpiece (Fig. 19-26)
Short Answer
1. What is the Order of the Golden Fleece?
2. Explain the iconography of Jan van Eyck’s Double Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His
Wife (Fig. 19-1).
3. Define the International Gothic style.
4. Discuss the importance of the fiber arts in fifteenth-century Flanders. Cite specific examples.
5. Discuss the achievements of Jan van Eyck.
6. Explain the technique of painting with an oil medium. Include examples of artists and their
work as part of your discussion.
7. Discuss the achievements of Rogier van der Weyden.
8. Discuss the achievements of Konrad Witz.
9. Discuss the patronage and disguised symbolism of the Portinari Altarpiece (Fig. 19-19).
10. Define the Flamboyant style. Cite specific examples.
Essay
1. Discuss the evolution of the graphic arts in the fifteenth century to an art form comparable to
manuscript illumination or painting. Define the techniques used, and cite specific artists and their
works to support your discussion.
Answer:
2. Discuss the Flemish school of painting in the fifteenth century. Address its origins, technique,
major artists, individual styles, commissions, and subject matter.
3. Consider the development of portraiture in fifteenth-century painting. How did it develop?
What were the circumstances? Cite specific works of art; address style, technique, and patronage.
4. Consider changes in the practice of manuscript illumination from the late fourteenth century
into the fifteenth century. Include artists, their work, their style, the medium employed, and the
role of patronage in your discussion.
5. Compare and contrast the diptychs of Flemish and French origin, Diptych of Maarten van
Nieuwenhove (Fig. 19-20) and Étienne Chevalier and St. Stephen and Virgin and Child (Fig. 19-
21).