Great Galleries: Metropolitan MoA NY Trivia Game | Humanities

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. We begin our tour with "The Harvesters", an oil on wood from 1565. One in a series of six works by an artist famous for his 'genre paintings', this has also been described as the first modern landscape. Who is the Netherlandish Renaissance artist?

Answer: Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, born in 1525, is particularly known for his peasant scenes (sometimes called 'genre paintings') and early landscapes.

"The Harvesters" depicts peasants in the field, some working to harvest the crop while others are shown eating. There are fewer people in this painting than in many of Bruegel's works, and the details in the background make this something of a hybrid between a landscape and a peasant scene.

2. "Cardinal Fernando Nino de Guevara" is a 67"x42" oil on canvas painted around 1600. The artist, a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance, is particularly known for his tortuously elongated figures, with a style so unique that he does not fit conveniently into any one school. Who is the artist?

Answer: El Greco

Although born Dom�nikos Theotok�poulos in Crete in 1541, he moved to Toledo in southern Spain in 1577. Dubbed El Greco because of his heritage, it was in Spain that he produced most of his best-known works.

This portrait of Cardinal Fernando Nino de Guevara was painted shortly after he became Inquisitor General of Spain in 1599, although he would resign that post in 1602 and spent much of his latter life as Archbishop of Seville. The cardinal visited Toledo in the spring of 1600 along with King Philip III and other members of court.

3. This 1787 canvas depicts a classical scene: "The Death of Socrates" shows the great philosopher giving a final lesson to his pupils as his execution by hemlock poisoning takes effect. Who is the important French artist from the Neoclassical school?

Answer: Jacques-Louis David

Born in Paris in 1748, Jacques-Louis David is the most important painter of the pre-Revolutionary era in France. He is perhaps best-known for his classical historical paintings such as "Oath of the Horatii" and "The Death of Marat".

"The Death of Socrates" tells the story of the execution of the Greek philosopher as told by Plato. Socrates himself sits centre-stage, stoic as he prepares to drink the fatal does, whilst his students exhibit various forms of distress around him. David uses colour to emphasize the emotion, with muted reds becoming more vibrant towards the centre of the work.

4. Painted in 1787, "Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zu�iga" depicts the son of the Count and Countess of Altamira outfitted in a splendid red costume. Who is the Spanish Romantic artist who is also known for a number of considerably darker works?

Answer: Francisco Goya

Boron in Aragon in northeastern Spain in 1746, Francisco Jos� de Goya y Lucientes is one of the most important artists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Goya's portrait of the 4-year old Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zu�iga depicts the boy playing with a pet magpie while a cage of finches and three wide-eyed and rather hungry-looking cats look on. Caged birds are often used to symbolize innocence in Baroque art and perhaps this portrait illustrates the narrow boundaries between the child's world (the finches) and the forces of evil (the cats).

5. This 1835 oil-on-canvas landscape, "The Grand Canal", depicts a scene that has been painted by numerous artists. The Romantic artist who painted this version is as renowned for his watercolour landscapes as for his oils. Sometimes known as "the painter of light", who is this artist?

Answer: J.M.W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in central London in 1775. Although considered controversial during his lifetime, he is today acknowledged as one of the great Masters of English painting.

"The Grand Canal", also known as "Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute", shows Turner at his brilliant best, merging the foundations of the palaces into the lagoon with masterful use of reflections. Turner first went to Venice in 1819, when he made numerous pencil drawings of the famous city. He returned in 1833 and on his return produced this stunning canvas.

6. Painted in 1845, "Fur Traders Descending the Missouri" is a work in the style called 'luminism'. Who is the American artist, whose paintings mostly depict life in the frontier lands along the Missouri River?

Answer: George Caleb Bingham

George Caleb Bingham was born in 1811 in Augusta County, in the Shenandoah Valley in north-central Virginia. Although barely known during his lifetime, he is recognized today as one of the greatest American painters of the 19th century.

"Fur Traders Descending the Missouri" was originally entitled "French-Trader, Half-breed Son", but the name was changed by the American Art Union, who thought the original too controversial. The painting depicts an era of American history when marriages were common between fur traders and women from Native American tribes. The animal looking out from the front of the canoe is thought to be a bear cub, not a cat.

7. This 1862 painting, "Portrait of Mademoiselle Victorine in the Costume of a Bullfighter", is one of numerous works by this artist in the collection at The Met. One of the earliest artists to paint works depicting modern life, who is this pivotal artist in the transition from Realism to Impressionism?

Answer: Edouard Manet

�douard Manet was born in Paris in 1832. His early masterpeices, such as "The Luncheon on the Grass", were highly controversial. In a career spanning more than four decades, though, he painted numerous portraits as well as scenes depicting Parisians in their everyday life.

"Portrait of Mademoiselle Victorine in the Costume of a Bullfighter", shows the 16-year old Victorine Meurent in the guise of a matador. The model carries off the role with considerable panache, although her pink cape is not of the shade one expects and her shoes are not really suitable for bullfighting. The scene in the background is a tribute to Goya's "Tauromaquia" series.

8. "Still life, Bowl with Apples" is a work from 1878 by an artist whose vast body of work includes portraits, many examples of still life, as well as numerous Impressionist-style landscapes. Who is this artist, often said to be the bridge between Impressionism and the Cubism of the early 2oth century?

Answer: Paul Cezanne

Paul Cezanne was born in 1839 in the city of Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, near Marseilles. His work ranges from a darker, early period, notable for individuals or groups of figures set against a picturesque background, to a later, much lighter style, where the landscape itself became the key feature.

"Still life, Bowl with Apples" was painted in the house in Aix belonging to the artist's father. The decorative screen in the background was actually made in his boyhood by Paul Cezanne. The still life itself is rich and dense, unlike some of his other still life works, which display a purposeful asymmetry as the artist moved more towards Cubism.

9. These two small painted panels known as the "Diptych with Calvary and Last Judgement" date the 1430s. Although probably completed by his followers and members of his workshop, to which Early Netherlandish artist are these panels attributed?

Answer: Jan van Eyck

Jan van Eyck was born sometime before 1390, and, although little is known of his early life, he is known to come from a family of artists that includes his brothers Hubert and Lambert.

Each panel of the "Crucifixion and Last Judgement" diptych is just 22 inches high and less than eight inches wide, but they are considered one of the most renowned masterpieces of the Northern Renaissance. The crucifixion panel on the left consists of three distinct scenes: Calvary with Jerusalem in the background at the top, the crowds in the centre, and Jesus' followers at Golgotha at the bottom. The Last Judgement panel on the right is similarly divided with areas representing Heaven, Earth and Hell.

10. We conclude our brief tour of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City with "The Fortune Teller", a work dating to 1630. This is an unusual painting by an artist more commonly associated with religious compositions notable for emphasis on the use of light. Who is this French Baroque painter?

Answer: Georges de la Tour

Georges de La Tour was born in 1593 in the town of Vic-sur-Seille, then part of the Holy Roman Empire and now in the Moselle department in eastern-central France. Most of his paintings are of religious scenes lit by candlelight, such as "Joseph the Carpenter", which hangs in The Louvre.

"The Fortune Teller" is a departure from the artist's usual style. It shows a rich gentleman and a group of gypsies, one of whom is taking a coin from him in exchange for telling his fortune whilst her companions are robbing him.

Source: Author EnglishJedi

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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Great Galleries: Metropolitan MoA NY Quiz

One of the world's most visited museums, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City houses the largest art collection in the U.S. Can you identify some of its most famous works?

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