A White Dove Trivia Quiz

Answer: Aphrodite

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty and desire, was derived from similar female deities worshipped in the Ancient Near East, such as the Mesopotamian Inanna-Ishtar and the Phoenician Astarte. The Greek name of the bird was "peristerá", probably from a Semitic phrase meaning "bird of Ishtar", because of the association of doves with the goddess. The Mediterranean island of Cyprus, believed to be Aphrodite's birthplace, was one of the most important seats of her cult. White doves were kept in her temples, and sacrificed to her during festivals. A number of statues and vases depict Aphrodite holding a dove.

Dating from the Hellenistic period (3rd-1st century BC), the exquisitely simple dove in the photo is a fragment of a statue. Carved in limestone, the statue probably depicted a temple boy, whose left hand rests on the bird's back. The dove is part of the collection of Greek and Roman art of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Answer: Hadrian

Discovered in 1737 during an excavation of Emperor Hadrian's villa at Tivoli, near Rome, this splendid example of Roman mosaic art - probably dating from the 2nd century AD - is a copy of a Hellenistic original created in the 2nd century BC by Sosus of Pergamon, the most celebrated mosaicist of antiquity. The mosaic, described by Pliny the Elder in his "Natural History", was an "emblema" - that is, the central element of a plain mosaic floor. It is made of pieces of coloured marble (tesserae) so tiny as to give the impression of painting - a style called "opus vermiculatum". It depicts a group of four doves around a bowl of gilt bronze: three of them are sunning themselves, while the fourth is drinking from the bowl. The depiction of the birds was said to be so perfect that real doves flew against the floor in an attempt to join their "companions".

This artifact is now held at the Musei Capitolini in Rome. Other similar mosaics were inspired by Sosus' work: one of them, found in Pompeii, is now in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, while a famous specimen from the Early Christian era can be admired in Ravenna, in the 5th-century Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.

Answer: Noah

Built in the 11th century in the Byzantine style, the imposing St Mark's Basilica in the heart of Venice is renowned for the huge expanse of mosaics with gold background - created over a period of 800 years -that cover its walls, vaults and cupolas. The oldest of them were probably made in the 11th century by Byzantine mosaicists. The most significant of these works, however, date from the 12th and 13th century, when Venice had consolidated its status as a major financial and maritime power.

The 13th-century cycle of mosaics that includes the stories of Noah and the Great Flood is located in the narthex - a porch placed at the western end of the church. The depiction of the stories of the Old Testament is believed to have been inspired by the miniatures in a 4th- or 5th-century Greek illuminated manuscript of the Book of Genesis. The mosaic in the photo, found in the south barrel vault of the west narthex, depicts Noah releasing the dove over the waters of the Flood; another vignette shows the dove returning to the Ark with an olive branch in its beak. Richly framed in gold with elaborate lettering, these mosaics are influenced by the sumptuous but rather two-dimensional Byzantine style, though already displaying attempts at reproducing nature and human figures more realistically.

Another well-known mosaic depiction of this Biblical episode, also dating from the 13th century, is found in Monreale Cathedral, near Palermo (Sicily).

Answer: Siena

One of the most riveting works of art on display at Florence's Uffizi Gallery, the "Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus" is a triptych painted in tempera and gold on a large wooden panel. It was executed in 1333 by Simone Martini and his brother-in-law Lippo Memmi (who both signed and dated the work), two of the foremost painters in 14th-century Siena, the Tuscan city-state that was often at odds with Florence. The painting was originally created to be one of the altarpieces in Siena's massive Duomo (Cathedral), where it remained until 1799.

The sumptuous rendering of the Annunciation scene was influenced by Northern European Gothic art rather than the more naturalistic style of Giotto - though some critics have also compared some of the painting's unique features to the art of China and Japan. In the centre of the panel, between the elegant figures of the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, the Holy Ghost is shown as a white dove surrounded by eight cherubim - descending towards the Virgin's ear, while the angel's right hand points at it. This frame-like motif, commonly used in Christian art to surround the figures of Christ or the Virgin, is known by the Italian name of "mandorla" (almond).

The white dove of the Holy Ghost is a recurring feature in many Late Medieval and Renaissance works depicting the Annunciation or the Baptism of Christ.

Answer: courtesans

It was English polymath John Ruskin who, in the mid-19th century, gave to Carpaccio's painting the title of "Two Courtesans" - believing the ladies depicted in an intimate, domestic scene to be members of Venice's class of sophisticated, highly educated (and expensive) sex workers waiting for their customers. However, in the 20th century a detailed analysis of this work revealed that the painting was only one part of a larger panel, whose missing upper half depicted a scene of hunting in the lagoon, and that the ladies were likely to be members of the Venetian aristocracy waiting for their husbands to come back from the hunt. In fact, most of the objects and animals that appear in the painting - including the two doves on the balustrade on which one of the women is resting her arm - are symbols of conjugal love and chastity rather than lust.

"Two Venetian Ladies", painted by Carpaccio in the early 1490s, is held by Venice's Museo Correr. "Hunting on the Lagoon", on the other hand, is part of the collection of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Between November 2022 and February 2023, both panels were displayed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC as part of the exhibition "Vittore Carpaccio: Master Storyteller of Venice".

Answer: St Peter's Basilica

Located at the end of the apse of St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the Throne of St Peter is an elaborate Baroque reliquary of gilt bronze sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1656-1665. It contains a simple wooden chair, identified by medieval legend with the chair ("cathedra") of St Peter as first Pope and bishop of Rome. Above the throne, surrounded by gilded rays and angels, there is a large, oval alabaster window depicting a white dove with a wingspan of 1.62 m/63.7 in - the symbol of the Holy Ghost that guides the Popes, followers of St Peter, in their mission. The window, set about 20 m (65.6 ft) high, is almost immediately visible to anyone entering the huge basilica, the largest church building in the world.

A master of Baroque scenography, Bernini added the window to this fantastically complex structure to create the impression of an otherwordly source of light, emanating from the pure white body of the dove, as if coming down from Heaven itself to illuminate the Church and the whole world.

Answer: Caravaggio

In most Internet searches, this artwork will turn up under the name of Cecco del Caravaggio - which, however, is an invented name given to a painter who was active in Rome between 1610 and the 1620s. Though some have identified the artist with Francesco Buoneri ("Cecco" being a diminutive form of Francesco in the Roman vernacular), this identification is not accepted by everyone. In fact, a number of art historians believe that "Cecco del Caravaggio" was originally one of Caravaggio's servants or pupils, who as a boy served as a model for some of the great master's paintings - and maybe later became his lover.

In "Woman with a Dove" (painted in the 1610s), the influence of Caravaggio in the depiction of the human figure is evident. The painting was initially attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi, and thought to be her self-portrait. The beautiful, dark-haired sitter holds a barely discernible, dark-plumaged bird (possibly a blackbird) in her hand, while a large white dove with black patches sits on the table before her. The painting is believed to have been executed together with a masculine portrait, known as "Man with a Rabbit" - possibly in the occasion of a marriage, since both the dove and the rabbit were held as symbols of love. Both works are now preserved in Madrid - "Woman with a Dove" at the Prado Museum, "Man with a Rabbit" at the Palacio Real.

Answer: music

While most of the distinguishing features of François Boucher's Rococo style are present in this "Allegory of Music", the painting does not emphasize the sensual element as much as his numerous mythological scenes. The beautiful young woman representing Music is swathed in flowing drapery - only part of her legs and a breast being shown - and the scene as a whole is more idyllic than erotic. Boucher's signature use of delicate pastel colours and soft, rounded shapes create an ethereal atmosphere. Music is referenced by the lyre and flute held by the two putti, as well as a trumpet lying on the ground and an open book of sheet music. In addition, there are no less than four white doves - one perching on the woman's arm, three sitting on the ground next to her. It has been suggested that the doves appear in the painting as one of the attributes of Venus, whom the woman is meant to portray - although a celestial rather than a carnal version of the goddess of love.

Painted in 1764, "Allegory of Music", along with its companion piece "Allegory of Painting", is part of the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. The latter, however, was created a year later, though the two paintings are identical in size and very similar in composition.

Answer: Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The Arthurian cycle was one of the greatest sources of inspiration for Victorian artists, in particular those who adhered to the aesthetic ideals of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the founders of the movement, created numerous paintings inspired by Thomas Malory's late 15th-century prose work "La Morte d'Arthur". In 1856, fellow artist and writer William Morris commissioned him to produce a watercolour depicting the Damsel of the Sanct Grael (Holy Grail), a minor figure that appears in Book XI of Malory's work. In 1874, he painted another version of the same subject (shown in the photo), this time in oil, and in the sensuous, decadent style for which he is best known rather than the simple, almost severe one of the watercolour.

In the painting, the white dove of the Holy Ghost with spread wings hovers over the maiden's head, bearing a smoking censer in its beak. Richly dressed in crimson and gold, the damsel holds the Grail in her right hand, while her left hand is lifted in a gesture of blessing. The model for the earlier painting was Elizabeth Siddal, Rossetti's muse and future wife, while the second painting's model was the red-haired Alexa Wilding, who sat for many of Rossetti's most famous works.

The first version of "The Damself of the Sanct Grael" is held by Tate Britain, while the second version is part of the art collection of famous British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Answer: silk

Active between the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, Watanabe Shōtei was one of the first Japanese painters to visit Europe and the US. Overcoming many practical difficulties, in 1878 he travelled to Paris, where he attended the famous Exposition Universelle (International Exhibition). In the French capital, where he spent three years, he was able to study Western painting, while his works gained considerable popularity in the West. A very prolific artist, Shōtei was one of the foremost practitioners of the Nihonga ("pictures of Japan") style of painting, which emerged during the Meji period (1868-1912) as a reaction to the widespread influence of Western art. Nihonga painters used mineral and organic pigments (as well as ink) on silk or paper, emphasizing traditional Japanese techniques, though also with an eye to innovation.

Birds and flowers were Shōtei's favourite subjects. In this painting of "Pigeons in a Tree" (an album leaf dating from ca. 1887, painted in ink and colour on silk), the three birds are depicted almost realistically, each with its distinctively-coloured plumage. The tree trunk is no more than a misty silhouette in the background, while the branch on which the pigeons are perching almost looks suspended in the air. The work is part of the large collection of Asian art of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.