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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the author, what is an example of Vuillard giving the viewer "the best of both worlds" in his paintings?
(a) A painting of an artist painting a landscape.
(b) A painting of a wall with a garden view through a window.
(c) A painting of a house atop a hill, in a vast landscape.
(d) A painting of a corner of a room with a painted landscape on the wall.

2. What phrase does the author use at the beginning of Appendix 7 to describe Gericault?
(a) "Technical artist."
(b) "Monochromatic Van Gogh."
(c) "Transportative creator."
(d) "Negative visionary."

3. According to Carlyle's biographer, what was his predominant mental illness?
(a) Post-traumatic stress disorder.
(b) Generalized panic disorder.
(c) Delusional psychosis.
(d) Depression.

4. Who is mentioned in Appendix 5 as the artist who painted "Dell in Helmingham Park"?
(a) Van Gogh.
(b) Millais.
(c) Monet.
(d) Constable.

5. What does the author say about Millais' "Ophelia" in Appendix 5?
(a) Its subject matter was too grim for it to be a good painting.
(b) It would be much better if the painter had made better use of color and shading.
(c) It is a bad picture, but its point of view is interesting.
(d) The painter misinterpreted the Shakespearean scene he was attempting to portray.

6. What does the candle light do for La Tour's paintings, according to the author?
(a) Makes them different from other painter's works, even when the subjects are similar.
(b) Allows La Tour to make the background of his paintings dark, and therefore less detailed.
(c) Stresses the importance and divinity of something simply existing.
(d) Creates a unique way to light and shade the subjects.

7. What is the subject of most of La Tour's paintings?
(a) Landscapes and nature.
(b) Women performing daily tasks.
(c) Still-life images of fruit and flowers.
(d) An object seen by the light of a single candle.

8. The "new Art of Versailles" was deliberately cultivated, according to the author, during the reign of which king?
(a) Louis XIV.
(b) Edward VI.
(c) Phillip II.
(d) Henry VIII.

9. What does the author say in Appendix 5 about Nature "at the middle distance"?
(a) It is the only way humans are conditioned to view Nature.
(b) It is not the best distance from which to view Nature's details.
(c) It is the best way to see natural creatures in their habitat.
(d) We are so familiar with it that we think we know everything about it.

10. Carlyle writes that he sometimes forgets what about other people?
(a) That they are sometimes discomfited by his illness.
(b) That they are not just machines.
(c) That they have their own lives and loved ones.
(d) That they are not all as sane as they appear.

11. What is unique about La Tour's paintings, according to the author?
(a) He didn't use the proper colors for things.
(b) The subjects don't do anything. They are simply there.
(c) All of his paintings are monochromatic.
(d) He did most of them at a very young age.

12. How does the author describe La Tour as a person?
(a) Generous and hard-working.
(b) Hard, avaricious, and proud.
(c) Humble, wise, and meek.
(d) Gruff but kind.

13. What does the author say La Tour paints, at the end of Appendix 4?
(a) God's immanence.
(b) Cautionary tales.
(c) Visionary experiences.
(d) Divine retribution.

14. The author discusses the history of what type of ideas at the end of Appendix 6?
(a) Physiological.
(b) Eschatological.
(c) Theological.
(d) Psychological.

15. What does the world inhabited by schizophrenics and other psychotics resemble, according to the author?
(a) The world of the dead.
(b) A psychedelic fugue.
(c) The spirits seen by a psychic.
(d) A sane person's nervous breakdown.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the title of the work by Carlyle that the author quotes in Appendix 8?

2. What is the difference, according to the author, between the Japanese butcher bird painting and Hardy's thrush?

3. What poet does the author quote in Appendix 5?

4. Who is mentioned in Appendix 5 as the artist who painted "Thicket"?

5. What is the highest point of the transformation the author discusses in Appendix 6?

(see the answer keys)

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