Renaissance - Missing Links Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pico della Mirandola

There wouldn't have been a Renaissance without the humanists and their innovative ideas. They rediscovered Antiquity and set the place of the human being in the center of the world, thus closing the dark chapter of the Middle Ages. The new concepts promoted by Italian humanists like Petrarch, Bruni, Mirandola or Machiavelli were rapidly assimilated by Northern Europe's thinkers and writers.

Answer: Ludovico Sforza

Popes, kings, noblemen, influential members of the rich merchant class - these were the maecenases of the Renaissance period. Thanks to their vanity and their love for beauty the patrons of the arts would always show their support, admiration and protection to the talented artists. Prominent among the promoters of the movement were the rich Medici (Lorenzo and Cosimo) and Sforza families. Since the time of Pope Nicolas V, also the church had been directly involved in sustaining the arts.

Their example was followed by other European rulers like Francis I in France, or his sister - Margaret of Navarre.

Answer: Andrea Mantegna

The 'Quatrocento' period gravitates around the city of Florence, under the brilliant patronage and protection of Lorenzo de Medici - the Magnificent. Although Florence had the leading painting school in this period (Fra Angelico, Masaccio, Castagno, Botticelli, Lippi) several other schools asserted themselves throughout Italy: Umbria (Signorelli, Della Francesca), Padova (Mantegna), Venice (Bellini, Carpacio).

Answer: Tintoretto

The high Italian Renaissance or the 'Cinquecento' is synonymous with greatness. The epicenter cultural effervescence moved from Florence towards Rome (Perugino, Raphael) and later Venice (Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto). Works like Leonardo's 'Gioconda', Michelangelo's frescos of the Sistine Chapel or Raphael's 'The School of Athens' are the best displays of the Renaissance movement.

Answer: 'Vitruvian Man'

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) embodies the concept of the 'Universal Man'. A leading figure of the Renaissance period, he is regarded not only as the complex artist - painter, sculptor, architect, art theorist, but also as the inventor, the researching spirit, the scientist, the experimenter. In other words, a true genius.

Answer: 'The Creation of Adam'

Among the titans of the Cinquecento, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) brings the Renaissance sculpture to its highest peak. The breathtaking scenes of the Sistine Chapel show us the size of his artistic genius as a painter.

Answer: Peter Bruegel the Elder

Following the Italian model, Northern Europe's painting brought its share to the Renaissance current. The newly discovered oil painting technique, combined with paying a close attention to details, the using of perspective, energy and rich colors imposed a distinctive style from the Dutch, German and French masters.

Answer: Andrea Verrochio

Sculpture was a profitable 'job' in the Renaissance, but only the very best would gain the admiration and recognition of their patrons.
The first important sculpture school in Italy developed in Pisa, with the Pisano family. Then, Florence brought Ghiberti (the Baptistery of Florence), the great Donatello ('David', 'Gattamelata'), Luca and Andrea della Robia (ornamental compositions) and Verrocchio ('David',
'Il Colleoni'). And the road was finally set for the genius of Michelangelo.

Answer: Andrea Palladio

Monuments, cathedrals, baptisteries, domes, chapels, palaces - they all needed architects and there were often contests between artists about who would get the commission for the work. During the Quatrocento, the city of Florence embellished through the works of Brunelleschi (the chapel dome of 'Santa Maria del Fiore', 'Cappella dei Pazzi', the Pitti Palace), Michelozzi (the Medici Palace) and Alberti (the Rucellai Palace). Later, in the Cinquecento, the greatest achievements came from Bramante ('Tempietto' from 'San Pietro in Montorio) and Palladio (renowned for the villas he built in Venice, Padova and Vicenza)

Answer: 'Aminta'

These Renaissance literary masterpieces, written by Boccacio ('Decameron'), Ariosto ('Orlando Furioso'), Rabelais ('Gargantua et Pantagruel'), Cervantes ('Don Quijote'), Lope de Vega ('The Dog in the Manger'), Shakespeare ('Romeo and Juliet') and Tasso ('Aminta')are a priceless heritage of the entire human culture.