800 Years of Western Art Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kiss of Judas

The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy, is home to one of the most celebrated cycles of frescoes in art history, masterfully painted by Giotto di Bondone between 1303 and 1305. Commissioned by wealthy banker Enrico Scrovegni, the chapel's walls and ceiling are furnished with vivid scenes depicting the lives of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, told in a sequence that wraps around the interior like an IMAX screen. Among these iconic works is the 'Kiss of Judas', a depiction of the betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane, renowned for its intensity and realism.

Answer: Hugo van der Goes

The 'Portinari Altarpiece' stands as a masterpiece of Northern Renaissance art, captivating art aficionados with its detail and emotionality. Painted by the Flemish artist Hugo van der Goes in 1476, this oil-on-wood triptych was commissioned by Tommaso Portinari for the church of Sant'Egidio at the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence.

The central panel depicts the Adoration of the Shepherds, while the side panels portray the Portinari family and their patron saints. What makes this altarpiece particularly compelling is van der Goes's keen attention to naturalistic details: humble shepherds are rendered with the same dignity and care as the holy figures.

Answer: David

Michelangelo's David isn't just a statue. It's a star of the art world. Towering at an impressive 17 feet (about 5.2 meters), this masterpiece was sculpted from a single block of Carrara marble between 1501 and 1504. David shows the young biblical hero deep in thought with his manky bits exposed, gearing up for his big face-off with Goliath.

(Guys, real talk. If you're going into battle, especially if your only weapon is a sling of all things, it's probably a good idea to at least wear an athletic supporter.)

Even though Dave was originally meant for the Florence Cathedral, he ended up standing tall and proudly nude outside the Palazzo Vecchio, coming to represent the spirit and independence of Florence.

Answer: El Greco

Painted sometime around 1596-1600, El Greco's 'View of Toledo' is a rare example of a pure landscape by a Renaissance artist, seeming to almost anticipate later artistic movements such as expressionism, with its bold colors and mood.

El Greco was born Doménikos Theotokópoulos in Crete (then called Candia). He eventually made his way to Toledo, Spain where he made his home and was given his famous, if unoriginal, nickname ('The Greek'). In 'View of Toledo', the rolling hills, dramatic sky, and haunting tones create an atmosphere that feels almost dreamlike. Your emo nephew will love it.

Answer: Jacob van Ruisdael

Jacob van Ruisdael was one of the leading landscape painters of the Dutch Golden Age. His work is characterized by dramatic skies, robust textures, and careful attention to natural and architectural elements. Ruisdael often integrated ruins, windmills, castles, or graveyards into his sweeping, often moody landscapes, giving them a sense of grandeur and sometimes melancholy.

His painting 'The Jewish Cemetery' is a perfect example. Though the actual location was probably not real, the painting combines real and imagined architectural elements with dramatic contrasts of light and dark.

Today, Ruisdael is widely considered one of the greatest landscape artists in Western art history, influencing later painters such as John Constable and the German Romantics.

Answer: The Stolen Kiss

'The Stolen Kiss' is one of Jean-Honoré Fragonard's most famous works from the later part of his career, painted in 1787. The painting captures a brief intimate encounter between a young couple. The woman, dressed in elegant Rococo fashion, glances anxiously over her shoulder as her lover steals a kiss, suggesting secrecy, spontaneity, and forbidden love.

Fragonard, a master of Rococo style, was known for his playful, sensuous themes and lush, expressive brushwork. This painting reflects the opulence and indulgence of the aristocracy just before the French Revolution. It's also more restrained than some of his earlier, more intimate works, marking a shift toward sentimentality in late 18th-century French art.

Answer: Benjamin Henry Latrobe

The Baltimore Cathedral, also known as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, widely regarded as the father of American architecture. Commissioned in the early 19th century, it was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States after the adoption of the Constitution.

Latrobe, who also worked on the U.S. Capitol, infused the cathedral with neoclassical elegance, favoring clean lines, balanced proportions, and a bright, domed interior inspired by Enlightenment ideals. Completed in 1821, the building remains a landmark of early American religious architecture.

Answer: Odilon Redon

'The Eye, Like a Strange Balloon, Mounts Toward Infinity' is a haunting 1882 lithograph by Odilon Redon, a French Symbolist artist known for exploring the dreamlike, creepy, and often spiritual realms of the imagination. This particular work is part of a series of illustrations that Redon created for the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, whose gothic and psychological intensity mirrored Redon's own aesthetic.

The image features a massive disembodied eye floating upward like a balloon, but you can probably tell that from the title and the image. Redon's black-and-white lithographs, known as his 'noirs', use rich textures and dramatic contrasts to bring to life a world where logic fails and symbolism rules. His work helped lay the groundwork for both Surrealism and modern psychological art.

Answer: Grant Wood

American Gothic is one of the most iconic American paintings of the 20th century, painted in 1930 by Grant Wood. It depicts a stern-looking farmer holding a pitchfork next to a woman, often assumed to be his wife, though Wood clarified it was his daughter. The models were actually Wood's dentist and his sister, posed in front of a real house in Eldon, Iowa with a distinct Gothic-style window.

The painting is a masterpiece of American Regionalism, an art movement that celebrated rural life and traditional American values during the Great Depression. While some viewers saw it as a tribute to Midwestern resilience, others interpreted it as a satire of small-town rigidity. Either way, its striking imagery and ambiguous tone made it a lasting cultural symbol.

Answer: Barnett Newman

If you like colored canvases and vertical lines, have I got the artist for you! Barnett Newman was a leading figure in Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting. His signature 'zips' were vertical lines that slice through fields of color and first appeared in 1948's 'Onement I'. He described them as a revelation in his artistic journey. These lines weren't meant to divide but to unify the canvas, anchoring the viewer's eye and emphasizing the sublimity of space.

One of his most celebrated works, 'Vir Heroicus Sublimis' (Latin for "Man, Heroic and Sublime"), measures over 18 feet wide and uses intense reds interrupted by narrow zips. Newman aimed to create an overwhelming, almost spiritual experience through simplicity and scale, inviting viewers to confront the raw emotional and metaphysical power of color and form. A lot of people think he succeeded. Others see a red canvas with a couple of lines on it.

It's the beauty of art. You fill it with your own meaning, making it a very personal part of yourself. And if you've got nothing to fill it with, there's always the next exhibit.