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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the late years of what decade did Leonardo begin to devise contraptions that would enable human flight?
(a) 1480s.
(b) 1490s.
(c) 1460s.
(d) 1500s.

2. What kind of organization was the Compagnia di San Luca that Leonardo joined in 1472?
(a) A guild.
(b) A painters' fraternity.
(c) A co-op.
(d) A religious organization.

3. Leonardo wrote that, "Those who are in love with practice without theoretical knowledge are like the sailor who goes onto a ship without" (175) what two items?
(a) A compass and a rudder.
(b) A compass and a map.
(c) A rudder and a spyglass.
(d) A map and a spyglass.

4. What was the population of Florence in 1300 before the devastation caused by the Black Death?
(a) 80,000.
(b) 100,000.
(c) 50,000.
(d) 140,000.

5. What was the function of the official known as a count palatine?
(a) To award custody of children to non-related legal guardians.
(b) To enact the legal process of legitimizing children.
(c) To assess a child's ability to enter a particular trade.
(d) To mediate local disputes between citizens.

6. When Sigmund Freud wrote a short book psychoanalyzing Leonardo's memory of a bird hovering over his crib, Freud mistakenly analyzed the symbolism of what type of bird visiting Leonardo?
(a) An eagle.
(b) A vulture.
(c) A starling.
(d) A crane.

7. What position was held by legitimate first-born sons in Leonardo's family, stretching back at least five generations?
(a) Notary.
(b) Tax collector.
(c) Banker.
(d) Dentist.

8. What height did Leonardo plan his horse monument to reach once completed?
(a) 14 feet.
(b) 20 feet.
(c) 23 feet.
(d) 51 feet.

9. In what year was a great deal of information found and published about the identity of Leonardo's mother?
(a) 2017.
(b) 1773.
(c) 1860.
(d) 1592.

10. Throughout his life, Leonardo devised how many different formulas for squaring a circular shape?
(a) 212.
(b) 64.
(c) 169.
(d) 39.

11. What fraction of Florence's population was literate in 1472?
(a) One half.
(b) One fifth.
(c) One third.
(d) One quarter.

12. How old was Salai when he came to live with Leonardo?
(a) 18.
(b) 14.
(c) 10.
(d) 21.

13. Rather than being a surname of Leonardo's, what does the phrase "da Vinci" indicate?
(a) Leonardo's status as a polymath.
(b) Leonardo's hailing from the town of Vinci.
(c) Leonardo's illegitimate status.
(d) Leonardo's status as his father's firstborn son.

14. What role did Leonardo inhabit upon his arrival to the court of Ludovico Sforza?
(a) A producer of pageants.
(b) An engineer.
(c) A portraitist.
(d) A fashion designer.

15. How old was Leonardo's father Piero when he had a baby with Leonardo's 16-year-old mother?
(a) 24.
(b) 36.
(c) 29.
(d) 19.

Short Answer Questions

1. After collaborating with Leonardo on a particular painting, Andrea del Verrocchio, Verocchio was reportedly so awed by Leonardo's technique that he never completed another painting on his own. What was the title of the painting on which the two collaborated?

2. How soon after Leonardo's birth did his father Piero marry Albiera, Leonardo's stepmother?

3. In what year did Johannes Gutenberg begin selling Bibles created on his newly-invented printing press?

4. Isaacson writes that "No scientist before Leonardo had methodically shown how birds" (183) perform what action?

5. What family controlled the republic in place in Florence at the time of Leonardo's arrival in the city?

(see the answer keys)

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