Chapter 11 – Painting
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A master of perspective, _______ painted The Glorification of Saint Ignatius for the
Church of Sant’ Ignazio in Rome.
a) Fra Angelico
b) Fra Andrea Pozzo
c) Michelangelo
d) Giotto
2. Paintings that consist of three painted panels, such as The Annunciation [Mérode
Altarpiece] by Robert Campin, are called:
a) diptychs.
b) reliquaries.
c) triptychs.
d) frescos.
3. Winslow Homer’s A Wall, Nassau was made using:
a) watercolor washes.
b) synthetic media.
c) the computer.
d) oil paint.
4. Mummy Portrait of a Man was created using _______, a combination of pigment and
hot wax.
a) tempera
b) fresco
c) encaustic
d) gouache
5. With the technique of fresco secco, as illustrated in the Ajanta Buddhist caves, the
artist:
a) applies the paint into fresh plaster making the painting very durable.
b) applies the paint on top of a dried ground, making it easier for the artist to get a
high degree of detail.
c) applies the paint onto a canvas support.
d) paints onto a ceramic vessel before it is fired.
6. The Bodhisattva painting (p. 224), painted with the technique of fresco secco, which is
often very fragile, is remarkable because:
a) it is so well-preserved since it was painted in such a dry environment.
b) it is hard to achieve this kind of detail with fresco secco.
c) it was painted in Europe and Buddhism was not popular in Europe at this time.
d) depicts the Bodhisattva with such an unusual hand gesture.
7. Where is the focal point in Giotto’s Lamentation?
a) the angel closest to the tree
b) the figure on the far right of the composition
c) the standing figure on the far left of the composition
d) Jesus’ head
8. Antonio Lopez Garcia’s New Refrigerator may seem like odd subject matter for a
painting, but it actually falls within a long line of which of these artistic traditions?
a) landscape
b) still-life
c) portraiture
d) abstraction
9. Marcia Gygli King’s Springs Upstate is different from traditional painting in that:
a) it is painted so loosely, so abstract.
b) its subject matter is unique.
c) there are no figures in the landscape.
d) it projects into three-dimensional space.
10. Andrew Wyeth’s Braids (p. 231) illustrates the detail the artist is able to achieve
using the medium of _______.
a) egg tempera
b) watercolor
c) gouache
d) encaustic
11. A traditional ground for tempera paintings (p. 227) is ______, a mixture of glue and
plaster of Paris or chalk.
a) sinopie
b) gesso
c) gouache
d) encaustic
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12. In the fifteenth century, a painting process was developed that allowed for a
continuous blending of tones and hues on the painting surface (p. 231). What was it?
a) buon fresco
b) oil painting
c) tempera painting
d) watercolor
13. Watercolor painting is such a spontaneous process (p. 238) that many people think of
it as:
a) a temporary form of expression.
b) suitable only for student work.
c) a form of drawing.
d) All of the above.
14. When an artist paints with a mixture of watercolor pigment and Chinese white chalk,
the process (p. 240) is called:
a) gouache.
b) fresco secco.
c) trompe l’oeil.
d) encaustic.
15. Painter Helen Frankenthaler (p. 242) moved from staining her canvases with oil to
using which painting medium?
a) tempera
b) pastel
c) watercolor
d) acrylic
16. Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was executed in a
process called:
a) gouache.
b) fresco secco.
c) buon fresco.
d) encaustic.
17. Artists can create a sense of luminous materiality in oil painting (p. 231) by brushing
thin films of transparent color onto the surface, a process called:
a) buon fresco.
b) glazing.
c) trompe l’oeil.
d) staining.
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18. One of the superior aspects of oil paint (pp. 231-232) is that the artist can:
a) continue to work on the same painting for weeks without it drying.
b) work with big, bold, energetic brushstrokes.
c) blend hues and tones seamlessly.
d) All of the above.
19. Mixed media artists (p. 243) have achieved what important innovation in art?
a) the incorporation of new materials into traditional work
b) the combination of plastic-based and oil-based paints
c) the extension of a painting’s “space” from two dimensions to three
d) the representation of the “real” world in two dimensions
20. In European fresco painting from the early-Renaissance to the late Baroque, the goal
of artists was to:
a) create the illusion of real space and realistic figures.
b) flatten the picture plane.
c) educate the illiterate masses and create a sense of awe.
d) tell the story of the life of the Buddha.
21. Painting was largely considered a craft, lesser than other “arts” like poetry and music,
until:
a) the Renaissance.
b) the Enlightenment.
c) the Classical period in Greece.
d) the Middle Ages.
22. Illusionism in fresco painting reaches its apogee in________, perhaps the most
famous fresco painting ever produced.
a) Pozzo’s The Glorification of Saint Ignatius
b) the cave paintings in Ajanta, India
c) Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling
d) Raphael’s School of Athens
23. Which of these painting techniques utilize multiple, thin layers of transparent paint to
create a sense of luminous materiality?
a) impasto
b) chiaroscuro
c) glazing
d) tenebrism
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Answer: (c)
24. How did Xu Wei, with paintings like Grapes, change traditional Chinese watercolor
painting?
a) he introduced a more free-forma and expressive style
b) he began making meticulous portraits of powerful leaders
c) he abandoned all identifiable subject matter and made purely non-representational
paintings
d) he only painted pretty landscapes
25. What is the main advantage of using oil paint over other paint media?
a) it dries slower allowing for more naturalistic development
b) it is more portable
c) the pigment mixes with wet plaster, and as part of the wall, becomes more durable
s) it lends itself to quick, sketch-like images
26. Which of these is not a component of painting?
a) pigment
b) ground
c) binder
d) investment
27. What is the binder in “encaustic” painting?
a) lime water
b) oil
c) egg yolk
d) wax
28. The _____________is the substance in paint that holds the particles of pigment
together and often defines the characteristics of the various painting media.
a) pumice
b) binder
c) ground
d) support
29. “True” fresco painting can best be described as:
a) expressive use of enamel.
b) working with pigment directly into fresh plaster.
c) a quick process of sketching from observation.
d) having more naturalistic capabilities than oil paint.
30. What is the chief advantage of acrylic paint over oil paint?
a) it dries slower so artists can work more realistically
b) it is a quick, immediate process
c) it is more expressive
d) it is non-toxic
31. What is the term used to describe the concept of imitation?
32. What is the difference between buon fresco and fresco secco?
33. A revival of fresco painting occurred in the 1920s in ________.
34. ________, a phrase “meaning deceit of the eye,” occurs when a painting or other
35. Define the term collage.
36. Explain the difference between denotation and connotation in a work of art.
Essay Questions
37. How do the physical characteristics of certain media (for example, gouache, tempera,
or impasto) lend themselves to adding an emotional element to the paintings created with
them?
38. Explain the painting process, using terms such as pigments, medium, binder, support,
39. The advent of photography convinced some painters that painting was dead. How, in
fact, has photography contributed to the evolution of painting?
40. Discuss why an artist might choose to create a mixed media work. Cite examples
41. Choose one example from the chapter and discuss how the artist has used a painting
medium as an expressive tool.