Let the Chips Fall Trivia Quiz

Answer: Low relief

Relief sculptures have a solid background, and create the impression that the figures have been lifted out of that plane. The extent to which the subject protrudes is described by adjectives; high relief sculptures have figures that are at least 50% freed of the background, while lesser amounts may be called middle relief or low relief - there is no clear boundary between these terms. Counter relief involves the figures receding behind the original plane - they look to have been sunk into it. Relief sculpting is often used for walls and monuments, where the sculpture is intended to be seen against a flat surface of which it is part.

'Madonna of the Steps' is the earliest of Michelangelo's work whose whereabouts is still known, and the only surviving piece of low relief. While it shows some derivative elements (such as the classical robes worn by Mary), it also shows signs of some of the elements for which Michelangelo was to become famous - the intricate folds of the material hang so as to suggest the body beneath them, and those tumbling cherubs add a playful aspect to the contemplative work.

Answer: Battle of the Centaurs

According to this particular legend, Lapith and Centaurus were twin sons of Apollo by the nymph Stilbe. Lapith became a noble warrior and established a kingdom, while Centaurus mated with Thessalonian mares to produce centaurs. The two groups had an uneasy relationship, but Pirithous invited the centaurs to his wedding feast in a gesture of familial friendship. The centaurs had a bit too much to drink, and one of them tried to steal the bride. That's when things turned nasty.

Michelangelo's sculpture only shows the upper half of most of the tangled bodies, so only in a few places can you spot the horse bits. This is the first of his 'unfinished' works. It is worked in high relief, so high that many of the figures are almost free-standing, and they twist into shapes that are at all kinds of angles to the background plane, which was unusual at the time. The piece is considered unfinished because there are chisel marks visible, creating a rough-textured background, but scholars are divided as to whether this really means he didn't finish it, or whether it was an intentional effect. Certainly he found something he liked in it - he kept it, although he destroyed many of his earliest pieces. 'Battle of the Centaurs' can be seen, along with 'Madonna of the Steps', at Casa Buonarotti in Florence, a house Michelangelo owned (but never lived in) which has been turned into a museum.

Answer: Ark of St Dominic

The 'Ark of St Dominic' is a monument (that started as a fairly simple sarcophagus) containing the remains of St Dominic, founder of the Dominican order of monks. After his death in 1221 he was buried behind the altar of the church which later grew into the Basilica of San Dominica.

The sarcophagus started in 1264 was completed by Pisano and his assistants. Starting around 1470 it was redesigned, and one of those to work on it was Michelangelo, who contributed the candle-holding angel shown in the question, as well as statues of St Petronius and St Proculus.

The Ark of St Dominic continued to be embellished until around 1780. The final placement of Michelangelo's angel is on one end of the altar, where its solid and muscular presence contrasts with the more ethereal angel produced by Niccolo dell'Arca at the other end.

Answer: St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

The 'Pieta' has always had its permanent home in St Peter's. although it was loaned to the 1964-5 World's Fair in New York City as part of the Vatican pavilion. In the 18th century it was moved from its original placement in the Chapel of St Petronilla to a more prominent position in a chapel near the entrance to the Basilica.

There is little I can say about it that has not already been said! A friend of mine who worked in Rome for a year used to make time every day at lunch to go and contemplate it.

He said that the emotional and spiritual refreshment made up for having to eat his lunch as he walked to St Peter's. It's amazing to realize that Michelangelo was only in his mid-twenties when he sculpted it, and was going to proceed to create 'David' only a few years later.

Answer: Madonna of Bruges

This 'Madonna and Child', with its ever-so-live child ready to leave his mother behind and face the world, as children do at that age, was bought by a merchant family from Bruges (in Belgium), and moved there shortly after its completion. It was moved to Paris in 1794, but returned to Bruges after Napoleon's defeat in 1815.

It was moved again during World War II, when German soldiers took it with them as they retreated in 1944. After it turned up in Austria in 1946 it was returned to Bruges, where it now stands in the Church of Our Lady.

In the 1970s it was surrounded with bullet-proof glass to prevent vandalism, and it is no longer possible to get close enough to feel the texture of the marble.

Answer: St Paul

Michelangelo added all four of these saints to the altar (although Augustine was later changed to St Pius). The altar was commissioned by the bishop of Siena, Tommaso Piccolomini del Testa, who got to name it after himself. The altar itself is unexciting, but it is considered special because of the four Michelangelo statues, each in its own little alcove, sitting above and behind the main body of the altar.

Answer: Moses

The horns on the head of 'Moses' have been the subject of much discussion. The Douay-Rheims translation of the Bible describes Moses as having a horned face when he returns with the Ten Commandments. This is an ambiguous translation of a difficult term that can also be translated as glorified (and the two terms are, in fact, related to each other). Whether the horns were considered actual or metaphorical manifestations of the glorious experience of his encounter with God, they were often used during the Middle Ages as a distinguishing feature of Moses. They were not seen as negative at the time, but have since come to be interpreted as implying some kind of evil by some interpreters.

This statue exhibits many of Michelangelo's hallmarks - the fluid robes that seem to hang in mid-motion, the anatomical detail of muscles and veins, the strong hands. It is also remarkable for the texture of Moses' hair, especially his beard - you can almost see it twirling around his finger.

Answer: Leah

The original plan for the tomb was on three levels, with about forty full-sized statues ('Moses' is over 2m in height), to be in St Peter's Basilica. Then money got diverted, and the project, started in 1505, proceeded in fits and starts. What was finally completed in 1545 (over 30 years after Pope Julius' death) had fewer than a third of the original number of sculptures, and was in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli. 'Leah' and 'Rachel' (both of which are usually attributed to Michelangelo, but which some feel to have been completed by his pupil Raffaello da Montelupo), were included in the final tomb, and can be seen there.

A series called 'Prisoners', showing slaves in various conditions, was part of the final plan, but was not completed. 'Dying Slave' and 'Rebellious Slave' were completed, but not included in the final tomb; they can currently be seen in the Louvre.

Answer: 'Dawn' and 'Dusk'

The central figure is Lorenzo, a figure nicknamed 'The Thoughtful One' because of its contemplative nature. The figure on the right end of the sarcophagus represents the Greek goddess Eos (Dawn), shown as a young and beautiful woman. The male figure on the left represents Dusk.

At the same time as he constructed this tomb, Michelangelo built the tomb for Lorenzo's uncle, Giuliano de'Medici. The two look similar at first glance (when you look at a small photo), but there are significant differences.

The figure of Giuliano is a young man, who looks set to do something, but lacking the vitality that characterized much of Michelangelo's earlier work. The female figure representing Night is on the left and the male figure of Day is on the right.

These two sculptures are both vibrantly muscled, yet lethargic in appearance. The two tombs together form an impressive display of the work of a mature sculptor.

Answer: Michelangelo Buonarotti

After eight years of work (1547-1553), Michelangelo discovered a flaw in the marble, and either simply abandoned it or actually smashed it in frustration - accounts vary. In either case, it ended up in the hands of a sculptor named Tiberio Calcagni, who completed the work. The female figure on the left, probably Mary Magdalene, was almost completely Calcagni's work, following Michelangelo's original models. The male figure in the background, thought to be either Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimethea, appears to have been modeled on Michelangelo himself - he makes frequent appearances in his own sculptures!

Although Michelangelo and Leonardo were contemporaries (Michelangelo was over 20 years younger, but lived a much longer life - he died at the age of 88), they seem to have had little interaction. There is no solid evidence that either artist influenced the other significantly, and Michelangelo certainly did not include any images of Leonardo in his work. While he did include tributary images of his early patron Lorenzo the Magnificent, this was not one of them.