AP Art History : Answering other questions about Ancient Greek and Roman architecture

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Art History

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Answering Other Questions About Ancient Greek And Roman Architecture

Triumphal Roman arches were made to celebrate and depict the success of leaders in __________.

Possible Answers:

war

elections

sporting events

debates

Correct answer:

war

Explanation:

Roman triumphal columns were massive structures erected in the city of Rome to celebrate massive victories in battle against enemies. These arches were huge structures with minute details of the battle's events and signifiers of the people who were defeated. These triumphal arches were used as models for many later arches in European history, such as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Example Question #2 : Answering Other Questions About Ancient Greek And Roman Architecture

Art made from cutting a shallow impression in a surface to create a small raising effect is called __________.

Possible Answers:

lifecasting

bas-relief

molding

whittling

Correct answer:

bas-relief

Explanation:

Bas-relief a very ancient artistic form. Bas-relief, from the French for "low relief," is a sculpture that leaves a background in the medium, carving only a portion of the front of the image into the stone being used. Bas-relief was first developed by the Ancient Egyptians, and widely used in Classical Greece and Rome.

Example Question #3 : Answering Other Questions About Ancient Greek And Roman Architecture

Which list of Greek sculptures is in correct chronological order?

Possible Answers:

Kouros, Kritios Boy, Dying Warrior, Laocoon and His Sons

Kouros, Dying Warrior, Kritios Boy, Laocoon and His Sons 

Dying Warrior, Kouros, Kritios Boy, Laocoon and His Sons

Dying Warrior, Laocoon and His Sons, Kritios Boy, Kouros

Correct answer:

Kouros, Dying Warrior, Kritios Boy, Laocoon and His Sons 

Explanation:

Both Kouros (c. 600 BCE) and Dying Warrior from the Temple of Aphaia (500-490 BCE) are works of Archaic Greek sculpture. Kritios Boy is from 480 BCE and is an early work of the Classical period. Laocoon and His Sons (c. first century CE) is from the late Hellenistic period.

Example Question #4 : Answering Other Questions About Ancient Greek And Roman Architecture

The Temple of Athena Nike, part of the Acropolis in Athens, is built in which architectural style?

Possible Answers:

Byzantine

Ionic

Doric

Corinthian

Correct answer:

Ionic

Explanation:

The Ionic order was named after the region of Ionia, a smattering of islands between Greece and Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), which were settled by Greeks in roughly the seventh century BCE. While the Ionians were there, they adapted Greek architecture into a simpler form, with more slender columns and less ostentatious ornamentation. This architectural form spread through mainland Greece, with the Temple of Athena Nike, at the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens, being an early example and the first Ionic building on the Acropolis.

Example Question #1 : Answering Other Questions About Ancient Greek And Roman Architecture

What Bronze Age city is both Europe's oldest city and the original home of the Minotaur?

Possible Answers:

Thebes

Athens

Knossus

Syracuse

Correct answer:

Knossus

Explanation:

Knossus is one of the most important sites in European art history, and one of the first studied for many scholars in basic art history. This question is helpful because it teaches while it asks: most students can recall or relate Knossus with the memorable Minotaur, but often do not correlate it with the Bronze Age or with being Europe's oldest city.

Example Question #6 : Answering Other Questions About Ancient Greek And Roman Architecture

Who is the figure at the top of the Column of Trajan?

Romacolonnatraiana basilicaulpia

Possible Answers:

St. Peter

Trajan

Julius Caesar

The god Jupiter

An unnamed Roman soldier

Correct answer:

St. Peter

Explanation:

The figure at the top of the Column of Trajan is actually St. Peter. It was previously a statue of Trajan himself, but the statue went missing in the Middle Ages. It was replaced with the current bronze statue of St. Peter by Pope Sixtus V in 1587.

Image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/RomaColonnaTraiana%26BasilicaUlpia.jpg

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