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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What types of images are paired together on pages 126 and 127?

2. Why is it a significant accomplishment for an artist to paint children at play?

3. What is the most true about Chapter 4?

4. From what ages does Rembrandt paint two self-portraits?

5. What words best describe the gaze of the subjects on their own material goods in a traditional oil painting?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the difference in the artist portrayal of a portrait versus a self-portrait.

2. Describe how the wealthy influence the ways of seeing through oil paintings, as explained by Berger et al.

3. Explain how the pairs of paintings and photographs in Chapter 6 on pages 126 and 127 complement each other.

4. In Chapter 4, explain what interconnections can be made between the images of death on pages 68 and 69, and the images of food, wine, and the hunt on pages 70 and 71.

5. Describe Couture's eighteenth century painting "A Roman Feast", and explain how it plays into the other images on the facing page.

6. Describe the mood of the collection of religious iconic images presented in Chapter 4 on pages 66 and 67.

7. Describe how Holbein's work "The Ambassadors" is typical of traditional oil paintings and the manner of presenting the subjects, as explained by the authors.

8. According to the authors, how is a collector of art different than a collector of other things?

9. Chapter 5 begins with an oil painting showing several items contemporaneous with the Dutch school in 1665. Describe the painting and the objects it depicts.

10. What is in the Knoll Ball Room? Describe what it looks like.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain how traditional European oil paintings make their subjects appear tangible and desirable, and discuss the affect this has on the culture of the time period.

Essay Topic 2

Berger et al. propose the metaphor that traditional European oil painting is a wall safe into which the ways of seeing are deposited. Write an essay with the following parts.

Part 1 - Explain this metaphor made by Berger et al.

Part 2 - Compare the metaphor of Berger et al. to the classic metaphor that oil painting is a window unto the world.

Part 3 - Explain your opinion: Do you agree with the metaphor of Berger et al.? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Woman nudes are a common subject in traditional European oil paintings. Write the following three-part essay to describe the portrayal of women in these paintings.

Part 1 - Describe how female nudes are positioned and situated in paintings that are tailored to the male viewer.

Part 2 - Explain some of the various ways that artists manipulate the depiction of female nudes to shape the viewer's way of seeing.

Part 3 - Contrast the assumed humanism in European oil paintings with the portrayal of women nudes in traditional European oil paintings.

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