CST Visual Arts Exam Questions and Answers 100% Solved
Prehistoric Art - Answers -Art objects were created as an attempt to control or appease natural forces.
-Symbols of animals and people had supernatural significance and magic powers
-Cave paintings (created animal images to guarantee a successful hunt) no background subject seemed
to float in space
-Sculptures were either engraved, carved in deep relief, or fully rounded 3D sculptures
-Architecture 3 basic forms (dolmen, menhir, cromlech)
Archaic Art - Answers -Period includes kouros stone figures and vase painting
Classical Art - Answers -Peak of Greek art and architecture
-Idealized figures
-Exemplify order and harmony
Hellenistic Art - Answers -Greek-derived style
-Found in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Egypt
-More melodramatic than Classical style
Navaho Art - Answers -Southwest tribe known for geometric-design rugs colored with herbal and
mineral dyes, especially carmine red.
-Shamans created sand paintings to heal disease, promote fertility, or assure a successful hunt.
Hopi Art - Answers -Carved and painted kachina dolls out of cottonwood roots to represent gods and
teach religion
-Also decorated ceremonial underground kivas in Arizona with elaborate mural paintings of agriculture
deities
Kwakiutl Art - Answers -Northwest coast tribe that produced totem poles, masks, and decorated houses
and canoes
-Facial features of masks exaggerated in forceful wood carvings.
Eskimo Art - Answers -Alaskan tribe that carved masks with moving parts used by shamans
-Often combined odd materials in surprising ways
Mayan Art - Answers -In Guatemala and Mexico, Mayans created enormous temples in stepped-pyramid
form
,-Huge limestone temples were richly carved with relief sculpture and hieroglyphics.
Aztec Art - Answers -Produced massive statues of gods who demanded regular human sacrifices
-Skilled in gold work
Incan Art - Answers -Peruvian tribe known for precisely constructed masonry temples and metallurgy
Byzantine - Answers -Refers to eastern Mediterranean art from A.D. 330 to 1453
-Combination of early Christian art with the Greek Oriental taste for rich decoration and color
-Mosaics: intended to publicize the now official Christian creed, so their subject was generally religion
w/ Christ shown as teacher and all powerful ruler, Sumptuous grandeur, with halos spotlighting sacred
figures and shimmering gold backgrounds. Used reflective glass cubes, left surfaces uneven so it
sparkled, wide range of colors, found on walls and ceilings especially church domes and apses, large
cubes in stylized designs
-Human figures were tall, slim, with almond-shaped faces, big eyes, and solemn expressions gazed
straight ahead without the least hint of movement. They were flat, stiff, and symmetrically placed,
seeming to float as if hung from pegs. No perspective or volume.
-Icons (Small wood-panel paintings believed to possess supernatural powers. The image of saints or holy
persons were typically rigid, frontal poses often with halos and staring wide eyes)
-Architecture: Central-dome church
Example: Hagia Sophia
-Place: Constantinople, Turkey
Romanesque - Answers -Mosaics: used opaque marble cubes, pieces had smooth/flat finish, colors were
limited due to use of natural stones, typically found on floor of private homes, subjects were secular
(battles or games), used minute pieces for realistic detail, background represented landscape
-Frescoes and stylized sculpture
-Architecture: Barrel-vaulted church
Had round arches and stylized sculpture
horizontal, modest height, multiple units, rounded arch, piers & walls for support, barrel & groin vaults,
dark & solemn ambiance, and a simple & severe exterior
Example: St. Sernin
Place: Toulouse, France
, -Sculptures taught religious doctrine by telling stories in stone, realism yielded to moralism (bodies were
distorted to fit the masonry niche, they were elongated with expressions of intense emotion)
-Manuscripts: considered sacred objects containing the word of God, decorated lavishly (covers made of
gold and studded w/ precious gems)
Gothic - Answers -Architecture: Pointed-arch cathedral
vertical, soaring height, unified/unbroken space layout, pointed arches, exterior buttresses for support,
ribbed groin vaults, airy & bright ambiance, and an exterior that was richly decorated with sculpture
Huge stained glass windows (illustrated the bible-like gigantic, glowing, illuminated manuscripts)
Believed that a church's beauty would inspire parishioners to meditation and belief
Example: Chartres
Place: Chartres, France
-Sculpture: Cathedral exteriors displayed carved Biblical tales, approached sculpture in the round, the
body was viewed as the envelope of the soul so artists once again depicted flesh naturally
-Stained glass and more natural looking sculpture
-Tapestries: weavers created highly refined tapestries, minutely detailed w/ scenes of contemporary life.
(Unicorn tapestries-symbolized the resurrected Christ)
High Renaissance - Answers -Composition, ideal proportions, and perspective
-Da Vinci, Michelangelo, & Raphael
-Architecture: used the same principals of harmonious geometry that underlay painting and sculpture,
recovered the magnificence of ancient Rome (revived elements like the rounded arch, concrete
construction, domed rotunda, portico, barrel vault, and column)
Symmetry & regularity, ideals of order, simplicity, and harmonious proportions
Depended on arithmetic to produce beauty and harmony, layouts relied on geometric shapes, especially
the circle & square
-Ideal beauty, simplified forms & measured proportions, religious and mythological scenes, figures were
heroic male nudes, portraits were formal & reserved, fresco, tempera, & oil paintings, emphasis on
underlying anatomical structure, theory was the basis, and composition was static & balanced
Renaissance - Answers -Lifelike art, shift interest to the natural, better understanding of anatomy &
perspective, intent to reproduce the forms of nature realistically
Art was the means to explore all facets of life on earth
Prehistoric Art - Answers -Art objects were created as an attempt to control or appease natural forces.
-Symbols of animals and people had supernatural significance and magic powers
-Cave paintings (created animal images to guarantee a successful hunt) no background subject seemed
to float in space
-Sculptures were either engraved, carved in deep relief, or fully rounded 3D sculptures
-Architecture 3 basic forms (dolmen, menhir, cromlech)
Archaic Art - Answers -Period includes kouros stone figures and vase painting
Classical Art - Answers -Peak of Greek art and architecture
-Idealized figures
-Exemplify order and harmony
Hellenistic Art - Answers -Greek-derived style
-Found in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Egypt
-More melodramatic than Classical style
Navaho Art - Answers -Southwest tribe known for geometric-design rugs colored with herbal and
mineral dyes, especially carmine red.
-Shamans created sand paintings to heal disease, promote fertility, or assure a successful hunt.
Hopi Art - Answers -Carved and painted kachina dolls out of cottonwood roots to represent gods and
teach religion
-Also decorated ceremonial underground kivas in Arizona with elaborate mural paintings of agriculture
deities
Kwakiutl Art - Answers -Northwest coast tribe that produced totem poles, masks, and decorated houses
and canoes
-Facial features of masks exaggerated in forceful wood carvings.
Eskimo Art - Answers -Alaskan tribe that carved masks with moving parts used by shamans
-Often combined odd materials in surprising ways
Mayan Art - Answers -In Guatemala and Mexico, Mayans created enormous temples in stepped-pyramid
form
,-Huge limestone temples were richly carved with relief sculpture and hieroglyphics.
Aztec Art - Answers -Produced massive statues of gods who demanded regular human sacrifices
-Skilled in gold work
Incan Art - Answers -Peruvian tribe known for precisely constructed masonry temples and metallurgy
Byzantine - Answers -Refers to eastern Mediterranean art from A.D. 330 to 1453
-Combination of early Christian art with the Greek Oriental taste for rich decoration and color
-Mosaics: intended to publicize the now official Christian creed, so their subject was generally religion
w/ Christ shown as teacher and all powerful ruler, Sumptuous grandeur, with halos spotlighting sacred
figures and shimmering gold backgrounds. Used reflective glass cubes, left surfaces uneven so it
sparkled, wide range of colors, found on walls and ceilings especially church domes and apses, large
cubes in stylized designs
-Human figures were tall, slim, with almond-shaped faces, big eyes, and solemn expressions gazed
straight ahead without the least hint of movement. They were flat, stiff, and symmetrically placed,
seeming to float as if hung from pegs. No perspective or volume.
-Icons (Small wood-panel paintings believed to possess supernatural powers. The image of saints or holy
persons were typically rigid, frontal poses often with halos and staring wide eyes)
-Architecture: Central-dome church
Example: Hagia Sophia
-Place: Constantinople, Turkey
Romanesque - Answers -Mosaics: used opaque marble cubes, pieces had smooth/flat finish, colors were
limited due to use of natural stones, typically found on floor of private homes, subjects were secular
(battles or games), used minute pieces for realistic detail, background represented landscape
-Frescoes and stylized sculpture
-Architecture: Barrel-vaulted church
Had round arches and stylized sculpture
horizontal, modest height, multiple units, rounded arch, piers & walls for support, barrel & groin vaults,
dark & solemn ambiance, and a simple & severe exterior
Example: St. Sernin
Place: Toulouse, France
, -Sculptures taught religious doctrine by telling stories in stone, realism yielded to moralism (bodies were
distorted to fit the masonry niche, they were elongated with expressions of intense emotion)
-Manuscripts: considered sacred objects containing the word of God, decorated lavishly (covers made of
gold and studded w/ precious gems)
Gothic - Answers -Architecture: Pointed-arch cathedral
vertical, soaring height, unified/unbroken space layout, pointed arches, exterior buttresses for support,
ribbed groin vaults, airy & bright ambiance, and an exterior that was richly decorated with sculpture
Huge stained glass windows (illustrated the bible-like gigantic, glowing, illuminated manuscripts)
Believed that a church's beauty would inspire parishioners to meditation and belief
Example: Chartres
Place: Chartres, France
-Sculpture: Cathedral exteriors displayed carved Biblical tales, approached sculpture in the round, the
body was viewed as the envelope of the soul so artists once again depicted flesh naturally
-Stained glass and more natural looking sculpture
-Tapestries: weavers created highly refined tapestries, minutely detailed w/ scenes of contemporary life.
(Unicorn tapestries-symbolized the resurrected Christ)
High Renaissance - Answers -Composition, ideal proportions, and perspective
-Da Vinci, Michelangelo, & Raphael
-Architecture: used the same principals of harmonious geometry that underlay painting and sculpture,
recovered the magnificence of ancient Rome (revived elements like the rounded arch, concrete
construction, domed rotunda, portico, barrel vault, and column)
Symmetry & regularity, ideals of order, simplicity, and harmonious proportions
Depended on arithmetic to produce beauty and harmony, layouts relied on geometric shapes, especially
the circle & square
-Ideal beauty, simplified forms & measured proportions, religious and mythological scenes, figures were
heroic male nudes, portraits were formal & reserved, fresco, tempera, & oil paintings, emphasis on
underlying anatomical structure, theory was the basis, and composition was static & balanced
Renaissance - Answers -Lifelike art, shift interest to the natural, better understanding of anatomy &
perspective, intent to reproduce the forms of nature realistically
Art was the means to explore all facets of life on earth
