4.5: Art and Illusion
1. Which two ancient Greek painters were masters of illusion?
a. Raphael and Donatello d. Kallikrates and Iktinos
b. Zeuxis and Parrhasius e. none of the other answers
c. Praxiteles and Doryphoros
2. The Painted Garden from the Villa of Livia is one of the finest landscapes painted by the
Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci.
3. Trompe l’oeil means “fools the eye”.
4. Illusion cannot be created using the medium of fresco.
5. Who advised artists in his treatise On Painting that paintings should look like illusionary
windows?
a. Pliny the Elder d. Ludovico Gonzaga
b. Leon Battista Alberti e. Ovid
c. Giorgio Vasari
6. The oculus in Andrea Mantegna’s Camera degli Sposi in the Ducal Palace in Mantua:
a. cannot close, so allows both sun and rain to enter the room
b. is just a painted illusion
c. has a balustrade that is strong enough for small children to climb
d. is opened and closed using machinery
e. none of the other answers
7. Andrea Mantegna included a peacock, to represent marriage, on the ceiling of the room he painted
for the Duke of Mantua.
8. Parmigianino created his skillful and unusual Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror to give to Pope
Clement VII because he thought it might help him to get commissions for more artworks.
9. Parmigianino’s Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror is a:
a. photograph pasted onto a piece of convex wood
b. photograph of the reflection of the artist in a convex mirror
c. painting of a photograph of the artist
d. painting of the artist looking in a mirror
e. none of the other answers
10. Parnassus, Disputa, and Jurisprudence are the titles of three paintings—along with Raphael’s
School of Athens—in the library of Pope Julius II in the Vatican.
11. What theme is not represented in the paintings that decorate the walls of the library of Pope Julius
II in the Vatican?
a. theology d. philosophy
b. law and justice e. poetry
c. humility
12. Analyse the ways in which illusion is created in Raphael’s School of Athens. What are the artist’s
methods for creating depth in the painting? How does the painting contribute to the wider scheme
of Pope Julius II’s library?
13. Which artist was investigated by the US Treasury Department for counterfeiting because his
painting of a dollar bill looked so real?
a. Julian Beever d. William Harnett
b. Chuck Close e. Ron Mueck
c. Shigeo Fukuda
14. Which part of William Harnett’s The Old Violin is real and not just painted?
a. it is all a painted illusion
b. the blue envelope
c. the door handle
d. the sheet music and violin
e. the small newspaper clipping
f. this is a sculpture not a painting
15. William Hogarth’s False Perspective demonstrates incorrect applications of the laws of
perspective.
16. The sheep and trees in Hogarth’s False Perspective correctly decrease in size to show that they are
further away.
17. Julian Beever is ________.
a. a sidewalk chalk artist working today
b. a Renaissance fresco painter
c. an ancient Greek architect
d. an eighteenth-century printmaker
e. none of the other answers
18. Julian Beever utilizes the technique of anamorphosis. Research other anamorphic artworks, such as
the stretched eye by Leonardo da Vinci or the skull in Hans Holbein’s The Ambassadors (see
Chapter 1.10). Write an essay in which you consider the reasons why artists use this unusual
illusionistic technique.
19. What did Venus do for Pygmalion?
a. gave him the love of Helen of Troy
b. spent one night with him
c. brought his sculpture of a beautiful woman to life
d. granted him immortality
e. none of the other answers
20. Which artist creates incredibly convincing sculptures of everyday people?
a. Chuck Close d. Georges Braque
b. Audrey Flack e. all of the other answers
c. Duane Hanson
21. Ancient Greek architects were not aware of how optical illusions could skew the appearance of
buildings.
22. When columns are intentionally designed to swell at the midpoint, this is called ________.
a. encaustic d. hourglass
b. entasis e. silhouette
c. tenebrism
23. Write an essay describing the optical illusions used by the architects of the Parthenon to
manipulate the appearance of the temple. How were these optical illusions created?
24. The Palazzo del Tè in Mantua is falling apart (triglyphs are slipping and columns have broken in
two) due to age and poor construction.
25. Giulio Romano created two unrelated decorative schemes in his designs for the exterior and
interior of the Palazzo del Tè in Mantua.
26. Which part of René Magritte’s The Human Condition is painted?
a. the entire scene
b. the scene outside of the window
c. the canvas that is on the easel
d. the entire artwork is a photograph
e. everything is painted except the canvas on the easel, which is a photograph
27. Magritte questions the idea of the “illusionistic window” in his work The Human Condition.
28. Cubist paintings are completely non-objective and do not contain any recognizable objects.
29. Compare Braque’s Man with a Guitar, 1911 (4.5.13) with Juan Gris’s Bottle of Banyuls, 1914
(3.8.24). Each artwork represents a different phase of Cubism: analytic and synthetic. Through an
analysis of these two images, explain the differences and similarities of these two phases.
30. Fanny/Fingerpainting was ________.
a. made from 1,000 old newspapers
b. made with the artist’s finger– and thumbprints
c. the largest photograph made at the time
d. a self-portrait of an award-winning school teacher
e. none of the other answers
31. Study the process Chuck Close undertakes when creating artworks. Write an essay discussing both
the mechanical nature of this process as well as the way in which he makes his artworks very
personal.
32. Which element of Audrey Flack’s Marilyn (Vanitas) can be linked to the term vanitas?
a. mirror d. hourglass
b. clock e. all of the other answers
c. calendar
33. What elements have an ambiguous reflection in Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère?
a. the bar top d. all of the other answers
b. the barmaid e. none of the other answers
c. liquor and wine bottles
34. Perform a formal analysis of Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. Identify the visual
ambiguities in the painting, and propose why you think the artist made such choices. What might
they suggest to the viewer?
35. Select two artworks that reject traditional notions of illusionism and compare the ways illusionism
is manipulated, perhaps even rejected, and the reasons each artist chose to do so. You may select
from René Magritte, William Hogarth, Georges Braque, Chuck Close, Édouard Manet, or Audrey
Flack.
Match the term with its definition:
a. a technique used to show the projection of an object into space
b. nude infant angel boys
c. a technique used to distort an image so that it is clear from only one viewpoint
d. a visual swelling at the midpoint of columns
e. a round opening in the center of a dome
f. reminders of mortality
36. entasis
37. anamorphosis
38. foreshortening
39. oculus
40. putti
41. vanitas