Early Christian and Byzantine
The following is taken from the 1994 Advanced
Placement Art History examination.
______1) This work is from which of the
following periods? a) Byzantine b) Carolingian c)
Romanesque d) Early Christian
______2) This work is found in a) Venice b)
Rome c) Ravenna d) Istanbul
______3) The work depicts a) secular rulers b)
mythological subject c) Biblical subjects d) the
signs of the zodiac
______4) The technique used is a) mosaic b) oil
painting c) fresco d) grisaille
______5) This work decorated a a) private home
b) catacomb c) public bath d) baptistery
______6) The work is characterized by its a)
careful detailing b) asymmetry c) simplified figure
style d) chiaroscuro
______7) This work most closely resembles a)
Roman wall paintings b) Romanesque manuscript
paintings c) Minoan frescoes d) Greek vases
The following is taken from the 1994 Advanced
Placement Art History examination.
______8) Both of these works portray the theme
of a) domestic harmony b) military victory c)
human sacrifice d) political power.
______9) The technique used in the work on the
left is a) metal repoussé b) bas relief c)
lithography d) bronze casting.
______10) The technique used in the work on the
right is a) oil painting b) fresco c) tempera d)
mosaic
______11) The figures in the work on the left
display a) optical reality b) complete equality c) a
hierarchical relationship d) physical conflict
______12) The work on the right contains
symbolic references to a) democracy b) paganism
c) Charlemagne d) Christianity
______13) The Byzantine style of the work on the
right is shown by all of the following EXCEPT its
a) gold background b) frontality c) linear
perspective d) planar representation
______14) Both works contain strong visual
reference to actual a) historical figures b)
recorded events c) Biblical passages d)
geographic locations
______15) Both works show a) the link between
divinities and rulers b) the separation of church
and state c) sin and redemption d) the
accumulation of wealth
The following is taken from the 2008 Advanced
Placement Art History examination.
______16) The building is a) the Great Friday
Mosque in Isfahan b) the Dome of the Rock in
Jerusalem c) San Marco in Venice d) Hagia
Sophia in Istanbul
______17) The building was constructed in the a)
6th Century b) 7th Century c) 12th Century d) 14th
Century
______18) The patron of the building was a) Abd
al-Malik b) Justinian c) Charlemagne d) Shah
Jahan
______19) The building combines a) the
basilican plan with a central plan b) a double
transept with a dome c) a hypostyle hall and an
atrium d) an ambulatory and radiating chapels
______20) An important structural innovation of
the building is the use of a) pendentives b)
corbelled galleries c) groin vaults d) concrete
construction
______21) The architects of the structure were
also a) sultans b) generals c) knights d)
mathematicians
______22) The original interior decoration
primarily featured a) bas-relief sculpture b)
painted retables c) mosaics d) frescoes
The following is taken from the 1997 Advanced
Placement Art History examination.
______23) Where is the building located? a)
Florence b) Istanbul c) Ravenna d) Venice
______24) The interior surfaces of the upper
walls and dome of the building were originally
covered with a) sculptural decoration b) frescoes
c) mosaics d) stucco
______25) The building is in which of the
following styles? a) Roman b) Romanesque c)
Hellenistic d) Byzantine
______26) The building originally served as a) a
mosque b) a church c) an administrative center d)
a public bath
______27) The ground plan of the building
indicates that it is a a) fusion of the central and
basilican plans b) cruciform plan with extended
transepts c) peristyle temple d) megaron
______28) The dome covering the center of the
building is supported by a) columns b) squinches
c) pendentives on piers d) steel girders
______29) The building was created during the
time of a) Justinian b) Charlemagne c) Julius
Caesar d) Augustus
The following is taken from the 2010 Advanced
Placement Art History examination.
______30) The church shown is a) Early
Christian b) Carolingian c) Ottonian d)
Romanesque
______31) The plain brick exterior wall of this
church resembles the walls of a) Saint-Maclou in
Rouen b) the Colosseum in Rome c) the Aula
Palatina in Trier d) the Parthenon in Athens
______32) Church interiors from this time period
typically were covered with a) timber roofs b)
quadripartite vaults c) pendentive domes d)
masonry barrel vaults
______33) The first story of this church interior is
a) an arcade b) a narthex c) a clerestory d) a
peristyle
______34) The plan for this church is best
described as a) Greek cross b) open c) octagonal
d) basilican
______35) Churches like the one shown were
based on the design of which ancient structures?
a) administrative buildings b) private residences
c) mausoleums d) temples
______36) The reused columns in this building
are examples of a) piers b) spolia c) pediments d)
spires
______37) Like most churches from this period,
the eastern end of the building terminates in a) an
apse b) a tholos c) a colonnade d) an ambulatory
______38) The interior of the building is a)
illuminated by an oculus b) ornamented with
marble c) furnished with calligraphic panels d)
covered with low-relief carvings
The following is taken from the 2012 Advanced
Placement Art History examination.
The plan and drawing reconstruct the appearance
of Old Saint Peter’s in Rome.
______39) The design of the church illustrated
was most influenced by a) baths b) temples c)
basilicas d) forums
______40) The Roman emperor who sponsored
the construction of the church illustrated was a)
Maxentius b) Justinian the Great c) Theodosius
the Great d) Constantine the Great
______41) Construction of the building was
begun in the a) third century C.E. b) fourth
century C.E. c) fifth century C.E. d) sixth century
C.E.
______42) The building had a) a vaulted ceiling
b) pedimental recesses c) radiating chapels d) an
atrium
______43) The semicircular space behind the
altar is a) an apse b) a tribune c) a narthex d) a
transept
______44) Light entered the nave through a a)
gallery b) clerestory c) triforium d) dome
______45) For social and political reasons, the
church was located on the site a) where many
believed Saint Peter was martyred b) of the
Roman Forum where Christianity had been made
legal c) where many believed Saint Peter was
buried d) of an early Christian house church
The following is taken from the 1991 Advanced
Placement Art History examination.
______46) Both of these works, one from the
interior of a church and the other from the interior
of a mausoleum, are located in a) Pisa b)
Florence c) Rome d) Ravenna
______47) Both works use a) contrapposto b)
balanced and formal arrangement of figures c)
linear perspective d) monochromatic color
______48) The work on the right reflects a
knowledge of the tradition of a) Egyptian
symbolism b) Minoan realism c) Roman
illusionism d) Romanesque naturalism
______49) A characteristic of this tradition that is
seen in the work on the right is a) a spatial setting
with three-dimensional forms cast in a natural
light b) a symbolic representation using flattened
images to heighten the spiritual emphasis of the
scene c) an otherworldly emphasis with few ties to
the natural world d) a celebration of the
sacraments
______50) In the work on the left, the golden
background functions in all of the following ways
EXCEPT to a) severely limit the depth of the
scene b) enhance a richly decorative and
unnatural space c) echo the flatness of the wall d)
designate the time of day as afternoon
______51) In the work on the left, the artist’s
representation of the subject creates a) an effect of
timelessness b) a realistic depiction of a Biblical
miracle c) an approximation of real life d) an
identification with the ordinary worshipper
The following is taken from the 2009 Advanced
Placement Art History examination.
______52) The sculptural work originally
functioned as a a) reliquary b) sarcophagus c)
ciborium d) cassone
______53) The sculpture was created during the
a) 1st Century b) 4th Century c) 10th Century d)
14th Century
______54) The type of typology (or prefiguration)
in the work is evident in its a) pairing of biblical
Old and New Testament scenes b) arrangement of
narratives in chronological order c) carved
translations of sacred texts d) portraits of the
patron
______55) Each scene seen in the work is placed
in a recessed area commonly referred to as a a)
parapet b) niche c) balustrade d) pilaster
______56) The style of the work was influenced
by a) Gothic sculpture b) Romanesque sculpture
c) late Byzantine sculpture d) late Roman
sculpture
______57) The central enthroned figure of Christ
recalls earlier depictions of a a) Roman emperor
b) Greek philosopher c) Carolingian king d)
Romanesque abbot
______58) Which of the following narratives is
depicted in the work? a) The apotheosis of
Augustus b) Jonah and the whale c) The entry into
Jerusalem d) the flight into Egypt
______59) The patron of the work was a a)
Franciscan friar b) Byzantine emperor c) Greek
soldier d) Roman prefect
______60) The figural groups within the work are
arranged in a) friezes b) pediments c) registers d)
polyptychs
The following is taken from the 2011 Advanced
Placement Art History examination.
______61) The work on the left is a rare icon
that survived iconoclasm, which was a) the
banning or destruction of religious figurative
images b) a guild regulation about artists'
qualifications c) a law restricting and
confiscating luxury materials d) an edict
prohibiting the observance of religious ritual
______62) The work on the left was painted
during the a) first or second century C.E. b)
sixth or seventh century C.E. c) tenth or
eleventh century C.E. d) fourteenth or
fifteenth century C.E.
______63) The medium of the work on the left
is encaustic, which is pigment mixed with a)
water b) linseed oil c) egg yolk d) wax
______64) The work on the right
demonstrates all of the following EXCEPT
a) an interest in individual expression b) a
dependence on Classical prototypes c) a
limited use of shading and volume d) a
strong linear sense
______65) The medium of the work on the right
is tempera, which is pigment mixed with
a) animal fat b) linseed oil c) egg yolk d) wax
______66) The work on the right was painted
during the a) fourth century C.E.
b) sixth century C.E. c) twelfth century C.E. d)
fifteenth century C.E.
______67) The work on the right reflects an
interest in a) accurately copying figures and
subject matter from nature b) aligning the Old
Testament and the New Testament through
typology c) emphasizing the role of the saints in
the church d) asserting imperial authority over
the church
The following is taken from the 2002 Advanced
Placement Art History examination.
The plan on the left is of the Pantheon. The plan
on the right is of San Vitale.
______68) Both San Vitale and the Pantheon
have which of the following architectural
features? a) Pendentives b) A dome c) An oculus
d) An ambulatory
______69) Both plans are best characterized as a)
axial b) central c) basilican d) directional
______70) Which of the following art historical
periods did NOT influence San Vitale? a) Roman
b) Byzantine c) Early Christian d) Romanesque
______71) The plan of San Vitale differs from
that of the Pantheon by the inclusion of a a) crypt
b) narthex c) transept d) westwork
______72) One factor contributing to the
difference between these structures is the rise of
a) Islam b) paganism c) Christianity d) Russian
Orthodoxy
______73) The plan of San Vitale is most similar
to which of the following? a) Sant' Apollinare in
Classe b) Old Saint Peter's c) Hagia Sophia d)
The Basilica of Constantine
______74) San Vitale is located in a) Pisa b)
Rome c) Ravenna d) Constantinople
______75)Both buildings are closely associated
with a a) Greek patriarch b) Visigoth king c)
Catholic pope d) Roman emperor
The following is taken from the 2006
Advanced Placement Art History
examination.
The work shown is a sixth-century
ivory relief depicting Saint Michael the
Archangel.
Which elements tie the work to the
Classical tradition? Which elements
deviate from the Classical tradition?
The following is taken from the 1992
Advanced Placement Art History
examination.
From what period does this image
come? What pictorial devices are used
to communicate the majesty and
importance of the figures?
The following is taken from the 2006
Advanced Placement Art History
examination.
The work shown is Early Christian.
Discuss the characteristics of the work
that reveal its classical sources.
The following is taken from the 1996
Advanced Placement Art History
examination.
This work is from the Vienna Genesis
of the early sixth century. How is the
work illustrative of its stylistic period
in its treatment of text and image?
The following is taken from the 2000
Advanced Placement Art History
examination.
Identify the work. Discuss how the
work’s style and technique reflect its
function and subject.
The following is taken from the 2002
Advanced Placement Art History
examination.
The work shown is the Sarcophagus of
Junius Bassus. Which architectural and
figural elements tie the work to the
classical past?
The following is taken from the 1999
Art History exam
Discuss the elements of the work that
define it as Byzantine.