ARHS MIDTERM EXAM PRACTICE
QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE
SOLUTIONS
◉ Ghent Altarpiece STUDY THIS
Answer: Jan van Eyck, 1432
NORTHERN RENIASSANCE
REALISM
ICONOCLASM
- Revolutionized painting through groundbreaking oil techniques
and supreme naturalistic realism
- The polyptych marks a major transition from medieval
conventions toward the profound humanism and natural
observation of the Northern Renaissance
- It bridges the gap between the viewer's world and the divine
through convincing spatial depth, complex iconography, and a
direct, penetrating gaze from the central Mystic Lamb that
emphasizes Christ's dual human and divine nature
- Housed in Saint Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, the
altarpiece survived wars, fires, religious iconoclasm, and multiple
thefts across six centuries, making it one of the most heavily
targeted yet enduring cultural treasures in history
- a monumental 12-panel polyptych painted by the Flemish
brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck
,- commissioned the work for their private chapel in the Church of
Saint John (now Saint Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent
- The altarpiece survived iconoclastic riots, the French Revolution,
and multiple thefts across World War I and World War II, earning
a reputation as one of the most heavily targeted and stolen
artworks in history (with one panel, The Righteous Judges,
remaining missing since 1934)
◉ The Fall of Man - STUDY
Answer: Albrecht Durer 1504
NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
HUMANISM
CONTRAPOSSTO
ANTIQUITY
A unique fusion of Italian Classicism and Northern European
Naturalism.
Italian Influence: The figures of Adam and Eve are modeled with
the idealized, mathematical proportions of Greco-Roman
sculpture (specifically inspired by the Apollo Belvedere and the
Capitoline Venus) and stand in classical contrapposto shifts of
weight.
Northern Influence: The setting departs from a traditional
Mediterranean garden, placing the figures instead in a dense, dark
German forest rendered with minute, painstaking detail and
heavy medieval symbolism
The four humors
, Inspired by Italian artists and classical antiquity, Durer spent
years studying the Vitruvian theory of human proportions based
on mathematical ratios
◉ Four Saints STUDY
Answer: Albrecht Duerer 1526
Northern Renaissance
PROTESTANT REFORMATION
REALISM
a powerful visual confession of his allegiance to the Protestant
Reformation
The composition emphasizes the authority of the Bible over papal
tradition. At the bottom of each panel, Durer inscribed warning
quotes from Scripture against false prophets and those who add
to or take away from God's word
The left panel depicts St. John the Evangelist (foreground) and St.
Peter (background). The right panel shows St. Mark (background)
and St. Paul (foreground)
◉ Descent from the Cross STUDY
Answer: Jacopo Pontormo, 1525-1528
NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
MANNERISM
COUNTER-REFORMATION
QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE
SOLUTIONS
◉ Ghent Altarpiece STUDY THIS
Answer: Jan van Eyck, 1432
NORTHERN RENIASSANCE
REALISM
ICONOCLASM
- Revolutionized painting through groundbreaking oil techniques
and supreme naturalistic realism
- The polyptych marks a major transition from medieval
conventions toward the profound humanism and natural
observation of the Northern Renaissance
- It bridges the gap between the viewer's world and the divine
through convincing spatial depth, complex iconography, and a
direct, penetrating gaze from the central Mystic Lamb that
emphasizes Christ's dual human and divine nature
- Housed in Saint Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, the
altarpiece survived wars, fires, religious iconoclasm, and multiple
thefts across six centuries, making it one of the most heavily
targeted yet enduring cultural treasures in history
- a monumental 12-panel polyptych painted by the Flemish
brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck
,- commissioned the work for their private chapel in the Church of
Saint John (now Saint Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent
- The altarpiece survived iconoclastic riots, the French Revolution,
and multiple thefts across World War I and World War II, earning
a reputation as one of the most heavily targeted and stolen
artworks in history (with one panel, The Righteous Judges,
remaining missing since 1934)
◉ The Fall of Man - STUDY
Answer: Albrecht Durer 1504
NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
HUMANISM
CONTRAPOSSTO
ANTIQUITY
A unique fusion of Italian Classicism and Northern European
Naturalism.
Italian Influence: The figures of Adam and Eve are modeled with
the idealized, mathematical proportions of Greco-Roman
sculpture (specifically inspired by the Apollo Belvedere and the
Capitoline Venus) and stand in classical contrapposto shifts of
weight.
Northern Influence: The setting departs from a traditional
Mediterranean garden, placing the figures instead in a dense, dark
German forest rendered with minute, painstaking detail and
heavy medieval symbolism
The four humors
, Inspired by Italian artists and classical antiquity, Durer spent
years studying the Vitruvian theory of human proportions based
on mathematical ratios
◉ Four Saints STUDY
Answer: Albrecht Duerer 1526
Northern Renaissance
PROTESTANT REFORMATION
REALISM
a powerful visual confession of his allegiance to the Protestant
Reformation
The composition emphasizes the authority of the Bible over papal
tradition. At the bottom of each panel, Durer inscribed warning
quotes from Scripture against false prophets and those who add
to or take away from God's word
The left panel depicts St. John the Evangelist (foreground) and St.
Peter (background). The right panel shows St. Mark (background)
and St. Paul (foreground)
◉ Descent from the Cross STUDY
Answer: Jacopo Pontormo, 1525-1528
NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
MANNERISM
COUNTER-REFORMATION
