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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who wrote a sonnet denouncing Pistoia?
(a) Michelangelo.
(b) Dante.
(c) Donatello.
(d) Machiavelli.

2. According to the author, who is the only person who can observe Florence well?
(a) The gatekeeper at the Boboli.
(b) The toddlers in strollers.
(c) The night watchman.
(d) The streetsweepers.

3. According to Chapter 2, by the time Michelangelo was an old man, who could afford to commission a work from him?
(a) Popes.
(b) Merchants.
(c) Groups of townspeople.
(d) Universities.

4. Where did Buondelmonte de' Buondelmonti, the bridegroom mentioned in Chapter 2, die?
(a) The Uffizi.
(b) The Piazza della Republica.
(c) The Boboli.
(d) The Ponte Vecchio.

5. From where did the stone for the Santa Trinita bridge come?
(a) The quarries to the north of the city.
(b) Alexandria.
(c) Rome.
(d) The Boboli Garden.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the author call "an incubus on its present population"?

2. According to Chapter 1, who normally sells the postcards in a Florentine church?

3. What is Donatello's statue of John the Baptist as a boy called?

4. Who eventually renounced his nude sculpture "Neptune"?

5. According to Chapter 1, if you are lost in Florence, whom should you ask for directions?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the noise of Florence such a problem? What have been some of the proposals to solve it?

2. How did the Medici tombs appear in the public consciousness of Florence in the twentieth century?

3. Summarize the incidents that began the war between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.

4. Describe a legend that is attached to one of the churches mentioned in Chapter 3.

5. Describe the architectural difference between Guelph and Ghibelline cities.

6. What is the typical behavior of Florentines towards tourists in restaurants?

7. Summarize the story of the founding of Florence, as discussed in the beginning of Chapter 2.

8. Where is the religious imagery in the city kept, and what does that imagery depict?

9. Name some of the theories concerning where the head of "Primavera" ended up after the Santa Trinita Bridge was blown up during World War II.

10. Why does the author describe Florence in Chapter 1 as a "city of extremes"?

(see the answer keys)

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