Sunday, October 5, 2008

The Monday Quiz XLVI

Art of the Fifteenth Century

1. What is the title, and who was the painter? And, what is one reason it's in such bad shape?



2. Who is the painter? And who's the woman standing on the shell?



3. What is this piece called, and who created it?



4. Name the title, or the painter.


5. Name the title, or the painter, or anything else you know or might surmise about either of these two.



Submit your answers in the comments. Extra credit if your answers still resonate 600 years from now.

26 comments:

fingerstothebone said...

1. The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci., experimenting with different materials, either for the substrate or the pigment

2. Botticelli, Venus on the half shell

3. Pieta, oh shoot, was it Michelangelo...

4. Beam us up, Van Eyck.

5. Well, the 2nd one is Annunciation, I should know the painter, but can't remember.

MJ said...

(sorry for any spelling mistakes.)
1. the last supper (or whatever it is in English), Da Vinci, humidity/strange experimental paint
2. Boticelli, Venus (being born, reportedly)
3. La Pietà, Michelangelo Buonarotti
4. married couple (but i think there was a surname somewhere), Holbein the Elder (?, no idea, really)
5. oh man, i knew this one... i'll try later.
6. ups, on more numbers...
ok, let's say Giotto for number 5.

MJ said...

grrr, i knew i had seen number 4!! and 5a!!
what's the point in visiting museums when you never remember a thing afterwards

Cartophiliac said...

1. The Last Supper by the DaVinci Code guy. Problem was, it was also used as a table cloth.

2. Larry Flynt - Venus LaConche

3. It is called, "I told you you are too old to skateboard," by Leesa Happoporo.

4. Title: "Darling, I'm so happy to be home after my two year trip abroad... oh."

5. eh... I cannot even think of a lame attempt at a joke for these.

Christine M. said...

1. The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci, fresco painted on a damp wall

2. Sando Botticelli, Venus

3.Michelangelo, Pieta'

4. Jan Van Eyck

5. Welll, the top one is by some Northern painter, but I can't remember who. The bottom one is the Annuciation by Fra Angelico.

Anonymous said...

1. da Vinci, The Last Supper; daV used experimental methods that didn't hold up

2. Boticelli (sp?), Venus

3. Pieta, by Michelangelo

4. "Bethrothal", I think, or maybe "Wedding"; van Eyck?

5. the first is a descent from the cross; the second is "Annunciation" by I Forget.

d said...

1. da vinci's last supper. acid rain.
2. botticelli's venus.
3. it's a pieta, but i can't remember who sculpted it. one of the italian rennaissance dudes. michelangelo?
4. one of the dutchies. dammit. who? it's not rembrandt. van eyck?
5. the top one is about the death and ressurection of christ. with mary fainting in the foreground there. i can't remember who painted it.

the bottom one is about the angel visiting mary to tell her she was preggers. can't remember the name or who painted it. oh, wait. the annunciation? that's the name of it i think.

bah. where's g when you need her?

Rex Parker said...

Boo. You are in the tank for "g" - I refuse to play.

Oh OK, I'll play - everything "fingerstothebone" said.

rp

Anonymous said...

1 / Last Supper by da Vinci One of he participants must have spilled something and it slowly ate away at the painting. Do we know why everyone is on the same side of the table? Makes it feel like a fake movie scene.
2 / Birth of Venus by Botticelli
3 / Pieta by Michelangelo
4 / Song of Gilgamesh by Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner (that was easy as we've had this one before)
5 / When I saw the originals at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, they were not the same width, as represented here, so that throws me off the scent. I think the first one depicts Monica Lewinsky covering up the telltale spot on her blue dress, and the second is a commentary on the Angels vs. RedSox playoff series.

Nichim said...

1. The last supper (or whatever Da Vinci named it in Italian - l'ultima cena?) by Leonardo DaVinci the artist not the ninja, who was experimenting with his fresco techniques, unfortunately not so successful, also possible influence of pollution? Or is that the Cistine Chapel?

2. The woman is Venus and the painter is, um, Botticelli? And is this painting really called Venus on a half-shell?

3. This is Michelangelo's Pieta, perhaps?

4. Van Eck? All I can think of for titles are the snarky captions from some previous quiz.

5. These both feature angels at the end and beginning (respectively) of Jesus' life, given a rigorous Catholic understanding of when life begins. I bet the bottom one is called The Annunciation.

Anonymous said...

1 The Last Supper--da Vinci--well, it's a fresco, I think, which tend not to hold up so well. Also, I seem to remember he was experimenting with his paints.
2 Botticcelli--Venus
3 Pieta--Michelangelo
4 Oh, it's the wedding of so-and-so. And I'll be damned if I can remember whether it was Holbein, or Vermeer, or Van Eyck, or. . . dangnabbit, I'll go with Holbein.
5 The bottom is an Annunciation by Fra Angelico. He did several--always the same basic composition--in the simplicity of the clothes etc. in this one you can see it was painted for a spare monastic setting. . .

margaret said...

1. Da Vinci's Last Supper. It's in bad shape because it's old and hung in a bar for a long time.
2. Botticelli. That would be Venus in the shell.
3. Pièta. Michelangelo.
4. Vermeer. She's prego!
5. Hm, same painter, different eras? Two of the frescos decorating the Ufuzi?

Ben said...

It's been 21 years since my Art History survey course. Oh well, let's see what I remember:

1. The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. It's in such bad shape because people were messing with it trying to find out more about the da Vinci code. Or maybe it's just water damage.

2. (I'm blanking on this one.) Botticelli? Venus?

3. This is the Pieta by Michalangelo.

4. Since I don't remember this painting at all, I'm racking my brain for other Renaissance painters, but, alas, can think of none.

5. About all I can do is describe the subject matter. The first is the removal of Jesus from the cross, and the second is the angel coming to Mary to tell her that she will give birth to Jesus (I think).

Anonymous said...

1. Leonardo - The Last Supper - peeling paint

2. Botticelli - Birth of Venus and the woman is related to Amerigo Vespucci. Venus she is in the painting but the model was his daughter? Niece? Something. I forget.

3. Michelangelo - The Pieta

4. and 5. I cannot name any. Darn it. I see #4 often though. I should have looked every time I played the game where you spot the forgery to see the original artist.

Is the second of #5 The angel coming to Mary to let her know she's bout to get preggers?

Anonymous said...

Okay, I had to look it up after because it was bugging me. The model for Venus is only rumored to be the wife of Amerigo's distant cousin. So says the wiki. Sheesh. Sorry.

Chance said...

It's a well known fact that the Last Supper is in such terrible shape because over years so many monks peed on it.

Chance said...

And oh yeah: Fra Angelico, beeyotches!

Rebel said...

Wait??? where did my answers go???? Ok... I'll post again with what I actually guessed.

1. The Last Supper by Da Vinci... he painted on a dry surface instead of on wet plaster as other fresco painters did. Also, I think the other side of the wall is the kitchen so it's been exposed to varying temperatures and excessive moisture. Poor thing.

2. The Birth of Venus but I didn't know who painted it. Venus would be the naked chick.

3 The Pieta but I couldn't remember who sculpted it.

4. Jan Van Eyck (he signed the back wall), The Marriage of Andolfini - I saw it in the National Gallery in London.

5. Top painting, Joseph of Aramathea taking Jesus' body down to prepare for burial, and the bottom one is the angel telling Mary she was pregnant. I think the top painting is newer than the bottom one because the faces and bodies are much more realistic.

Rebel said...

"karmaSartre said...
Do we know why everyone is on the same side of the table? Makes it feel like a fake movie scene."

Yes we do. In previous depictions of the last supper Judas was on the other side of the table to single him out as the betrayer. DaVinci put him back on the other side of the table to show his role as a desciple (sp?). It was painted in the dining hall of a monestary, so it looks like they are at the head table, (think - the professors at Hogwarts), the monks would be eating in rows perpendicular to the painting.

Michael5000 said...

1. Leonardo's Last Supper is in bad shape for several reasons, including that he was trying out an experimental method that didn't completely work out; he painted on an outside wall that's vulnerable to condensation, later users of the building put a door through his painting (right there under Jesus), and, oh yeah, the building got hit by a freaking BOMB in WWII.

2. Botticelli, "The Birth of Venus."

3. Michaelangelo, "Pieta."

4. That's Van Eyck, and it's usually called "The Arnolfini Portrait," or "Marriage," or "Wedding." And no, she's probably not pregnant, really. That's just the look. For reals.

5a. "Descent of Christ from the Cross" by Rogier van der Weyden; "Annunciation" by Fra Angelico.

Michael5000 said...

Which means there are six (6) Exclamation Points going out this week. As follows:

La gringissima (her 11th)
d (7th)
gs49 (6th)
fingerstothebone (5th)
Rex (4th)
nichim (4th)

Michael5000 said...


@Carto: Very droll.

@Rex: OF COURSE I'm in the tank for G. Who isn't, and besides, she's the reigning L&TM5K Dork! But, I'm also right in that tank with Becky, Fingers, and of course Mrs.5000, all of whom have known Art History cred. As apparently does La Gringissima.

@karma: Talkin' about the man.

@Rebel: The Last Supper, Hogwarts... The connections are all spelled out in the surprising 8th book, "Harry Potter and the Ascent to Calvary"

fingerstothebone said...

What's this tank you talk about?

Christine M. said...

Yeah, I majored in art history in college. So sue me ;-)

Rebel said...

@Rebel: The Last Supper, Hogwarts... The connections are all spelled out in the surprising 8th book, "Harry Potter and the Ascent to Calvary"


Um...actually the connections are pretty strongly alluded to in the 7th book... but I'm guessing you still haven't read it have you? ;)

G said...

@Rex: HA! And I didn't even play! P.S. I wouldn't have gotten 5a.