From Renaissance frescoes to Dalí's melting clocks. 10 questions to walk through the history of art in five minutes.
10 questions on painting and the great artists: the must-know masterpieces, the major movements, and the techniques that shaped the history of art.
Pick your level
From the cave paintings of Lascaux to contemporary art, creativity has accompanied humanity for tens of thousands of years. Painting in particular has reinvented itself across the centuries: the perspective and realism of the Renaissance, the light of the Impressionists, the fractured shapes of Cubism, and the wild imagination of the Surrealists.
Knowing a handful of great names and iconic works changes the way you look at a painting. It helps you read an era and appreciate the genius of those who shaped how we see. This quiz covers the masterpieces and movements everyone has already met, whether in a gallery, a textbook or on a postcard.
All ten easy level questions, with the answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Orange
Orange, the secondary colour between them.
Correct answer: Three-dimensional works
Three-dimensional works, in stone, clay, bronze or anything else to hand.
Correct answer: Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch, and he made several versions of it.
Correct answer: Madrid
Madrid, home to a great many works by Velázquez and Goya.
Correct answer: Florence
Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance.
Correct answer: Scenery
Scenery, such as countryside, mountains or the sea.
Correct answer: Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí, who died in 1926 with the work far from finished.
Correct answer: Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock, who laid his canvases on the floor.
Correct answer: Marble
Marble, from a single block that other sculptors had given up on.
Correct answer: Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol, who screen-printed them in 1962, soon after her death.
Want to warm up before playing or double-check something? Open any question to reveal the correct answer and a short explanation.
Correct answer: Leonardo da Vinci
The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the early 16th century. Its enigmatic smile and the sfumato technique, which softens the outlines, helped make it the most famous painting in the world.
Correct answer: The Louvre
The Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre in Paris, drawing millions of visitors every year. Protected behind bulletproof glass, it is by far the most visited work in the museum.
Correct answer: Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh painted The Starry Night in 1889 from his room at the asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Largely misunderstood during his lifetime, he sold almost no paintings and found fame only after his death.
Correct answer: Impressionism
Impressionism takes its name from Monet's painting 'Impression, Sunrise'. Impressionists often painted outdoors, trying to capture light and a fleeting moment rather than precise detail.
Correct answer: Michelangelo
Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512, working on scaffolding. Its best-known scene, The Creation of Adam, shows the fingers of God and Adam almost touching.
Correct answer: Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso co-founded Cubism with Georges Braque in the early 20th century. The movement breaks objects into geometric shapes seen from several angles at once. Guernica is one of his most famous works.
Correct answer: Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí painted The Persistence of Memory in 1931. Its soft, melting clocks became the defining image of Surrealism, the movement that explores dreams and the unconscious.
Correct answer: Fresco
Fresco involves applying pigments onto still-damp lime plaster. As it dries, the plaster locks in the colour permanently. This demanding technique is how the old masters decorated walls and ceilings.
Correct answer: Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer painted Girl with a Pearl Earring around 1665. Nicknamed the 'Mona Lisa of the North', it captivates viewers with the young woman's gaze and the gleam of her pearl earring.
Correct answer: Red, yellow and blue
In painting, the primaries are traditionally red, yellow and blue (printers use cyan, magenta and yellow): they cannot be made by mixing other colours. Combining them creates the secondary colours such as green, orange and purple.
Stuck on one, or just curious how nasty it gets? Every hard mode question is here with its answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch, on a triptych now in the Prado.
Correct answer: Jan van Eyck
Jan van Eyck, in 1434, with a mirror that repays a close look.
Correct answer: Grant Wood
Grant Wood, in 1930. His sister and his dentist posed for it.
Correct answer: The Bauhaus
The Bauhaus, later moved to Dessau and Berlin, then closed in 1933.
Correct answer: Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt, around 1908. It hangs in the Belvedere in Vienna.
Correct answer: Milan
Milan, on the refectory wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Correct answer: Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper, in 1942. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Correct answer: Strong contrast of light and dark
Strong contrast of light and dark, from the Italian for light and dark.
Correct answer: Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin, who first went there in 1891.
Correct answer: Hokusai
Hokusai, with Mount Fuji very small in the background.