1.7: Scale and Proportion
1. The kind of scale used for objects that appear larger than they are in real life is called ________
scale.
a. monumental d. meaningful
b. human e. proportional
c. hierarchical
2. The size relationships between parts of an object, or its ________, affects how a viewer will
interpret it.
a. proportions d. values
b. colors e. facade
c. mass
3. The Swedish-born artist Claes Oldenburg uses this kind of scale in his sculptures to express
admiration for the little things in everyday life.
a. human d. hierarchical
b. small e. proportional
c. monumental
4. Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen collaborated to create Mistos, a larger-than-life
sculpture of this everyday item.
a. a book of matches d. a spoon and cherry
b. a clothes pin e. a bottle
c. a baseball bat
5. In his figural portraits, Robert Lostutter uses this kind of scale to create an intimate viewing
experience.
a. hierarchical scale d. small scale
b. monumental scale e. proportional scale
c. human scale
6. An artist might use a small scale for a portrait of a lover because it implies ________.
a. intimacy d. importance
b. epic virtues e. heroism
c. distance
7. When an artist uses scale to indicate the relative importance of elements in a composition, he or
she is employing this kind of scale.
a. human scale d. hierarchical scale
b. monumental scale e. proportional scale
c. small scale
8. This type of scale is common in the relief sculpture of ancient Egypt, where it was used to indicate
social importance.
a. monumental d. lifesize
b. human e. hierarchical
c. miniature
9. The Flemish artist Jan van Eyck used hierarchical scale to communicate ________ importance in
his painting Madonna in a Church.
a. spiritual d. aesthetic
b. social e. intellectual
c. political
10. Historically, hierarchical scale has been used by artists to communicate power or rank in social and
religious contexts, but identifying importance using scale (or implied scale) may also be used in
visual communication design. Can you think of an example from everyday life—perhaps in
advertising—where scale is use to indicate importance? How is it being communicated and is it
effective?
11. This group of artists sometimes used distorted scale to create dreamlike images that subvert our
conscious experiences.
a. Pop artists d. Cubists
b. Surrealists e. Orphists
c. Futurists
12. Dorothea Tanning’s work Eine Kleine Nachtmusik uses deliberately distorted scale to create an
abnormal or ________ effect.
a. peaceful d. thoughtful
b. intimate e. supernatural
c. heroic
13. An artist would probably use distorted scale if he or she wanted to create a lifelike scene that the
viewer could relate to.
14. The relationships between the sizes of different parts of a work make up its ________.
a. volume d. mass
b. scale e. character
c. proportions
15. In two-dimensional art, this is the area in which an artist creates their work.
a. square d. round
b. cast e. format
c. mold
16. In ancient Egypt, this part of the human body was used as a standard of measurement. Six of these
equaled a cubit.
a. palm d. torso
b. toe e. eye
c. leg
17. Compare ancient Greek ideal human proportions with the art of the Yoruba. In your opinion,
which culture uses proportions that are most descriptive of the human figure? Why?
18. This aspect of culture is integral to both ancient Greek and Yoruba figural art, despite the
differences in how the resulting artworks look.
a. politics d. family
b. religion e. food
c. social status
19. In traditional African art of the Yoruba tribe, human imagery follows the ideal proportions
identified by the ancient Egyptians in palm and hand measurements.
20. In his work The School of Athens, this Renaissance artist created figures using the ideal human
proportions developed by the ancient Greeks.
a. Raphael d. Michelangelo
b. Claes Oldenburg e. Leonardo da Vinci
c. Dorothea Tanning
Art
21. In The School of Athens, Raphael focused our attention on two Greek philosophers positioned in
the center of the work. They are ________ and ________.
a. Aristotle . . . Socrates d. Diogenes . . . Socrates
b. Socrates . . . Plato e. Diogenes . . . Aristotle
c. Plato . . . Aristotle
Art
22. This proportional system uses a ratio of 1:1.618.
a. Standard Cubit d. Rule of Thirds
b. Fibonacci Sequence e. Golden Section
c. Root 5 Rectangle
23. The ancient Greek sculptor who created the bronze known as Poseidon (or Zeus) used this part of
the body as a standard unit for proportional measurement in the work.
a. torso d. head
b. hand e. all of the other answers
c. foot
24. It does not matter if a sculptor is creating a human statue on a monumental scale, or a figure much
smaller than lifesize: if the sculptor applies the ratio of the Golden Section, the sculpture will have
naturalistic proportions.
25. Rectangles based on the Golden Section can be nested inside each other to create an elegant
________.
a. spiral d. circle
b. square e. triangle
c. star pattern
26. The composition of this photographer’s work Fading Away appears to conform to a proportional
ratio called the Golden Section.
a. Jan van Eyck d. Dorothea Tanning
b. Nadar e. Ansel Adams
c. Henry Peach Robinson
27. Photographers cannot be responsible for principles of scale or proportion in their photographs.
28. Discuss ways in which photography can mislead viewers about scale or proportion. Find an
example where the photographer has made an object seem either bigger or smaller than it would be
in real life. What might the photographer’s reasons have been for doing this?
29. The ancient Greeks designed the Parthenon according to the idealized rules of proportion for the
human body, creating ________ design.
a. an Egyptian-style d. a Fibonacci
b. a disjointed e. a small-scale
c. a harmonious