Art History Experts Know All of the Images in This Quiz — Do You?

By: Gavin Thagard
Estimated Completion Time
6 min
Art History Experts Know All of the Images in This Quiz — Do You?
Image: Wiki Commons by bgEuwDxel93-Pg at Google Cultural Institute, Museum of Modern Art

About This Quiz

Lines, shapes, color palettes, themes, and motifs: a lot goes into a work of art to take it from being just another painting or sculpture to being a piece of world history that should be respected and studied, but what does make it into the latter category certainly has a way of drawing our attention and interest. How well do you know some of history's greatest works of art? Here's a quiz where you can find out. 

Even if the field wasn't defined, the study of art has been around as long as the practice itself. In fact, as soon as artwork is produced, it's already being critiqued by its viewers, giving everyone a level of responsibility when it comes to art and the artist. After all, it's typically art that draws the most attention that finds its way into the pages of history books, as those works have a way of changing our perception of what moves us and how art relates to life.

Are you ready to test out your art history knowledge by identifying both classical and contemporary pieces? Can you name the work of Renaissance artists like Michelangelo and post-impressionists like Vincent van Gogh, along with many more?

When you're done being a critic and ready to take on the role of a historian, get started with this quiz on the most important works in art history! 

9 quinten massys The Moneylender and His Wife
Wiki Commons by Sailko
Can you name this painting that came from Antwerp's leading master in the 1500s?
The French Ambassadors
Locked Up Their Minds
Netherlandish Proverbs
Money-Changer and His Wife
16 Van Gogh Starry Night
Wiki Commons by The Getty Center, Object 826
Painted from an asylum room at Saint-Remy-de-Provence, what's this painting known as?
Landscape with Clerks Studying Astronomy and Geometry
Astronomy
The Starry Night
Wheatfield with Crows
2 810px-Edvard_Munch_-_The_Scream_-_Google_Art_Project
Wiki Commons by Google Art Project, Edvard Munch
Do you recognize this painting that was stolen from the Oslo National Gallery in 1994?
Anxiety
The Scream
Jealousy
Vampire

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18 Napoleon at the Pesthouse at Jaffa
Wiki Commons by Musee du Louvre
A painting created by Antoine-Jean Gros, this oil on canvas painting is referred to as what?
Napoleon at the Pesthouse at Jaffa
Family of Charles IV
Third of May
727
21 Birth of Venus Sandro_Botticelli_046
Wiki Commons by Sandro Botticelli
Little is known about the origin of this painting other than its artist, Sandro Botticelli. Do you know its title?
The Raft of the Medusa
Apollo and Daphne
The Triumph of Virtue
Birth of Venus
40 Gustave Caillebotte Paris A Rainy Day
Wiki Commons by Helms
Capturing the transition of city life, can you recall the name of this Impressionist painting by Gustave Caillebotte?
La Place du Theatre Francais
Paris: A Rainy Day
Metropolis
The Goodbye to Hamburg

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3 The_Last_Supper_pre_EUR
Wiki Commons by Leonardo da Vinci
This mural by Leonardo da Vinci can be found in the Santa Maria delle Grazie. What's it called?
The Last Judgement
Transfiguration
The Calling of St Matthew
Last Supper
4 Johannes_Vermeer_-_The_Girl_With_The_Pearl Earring
Wiki Commons by Johannes Vermeer
Can you identify this oil painting that was created by Johannes Vermeer during the Dutch Golden Age?
The Milkmaid
The Lacemaker
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Study of a Young Woman
36 The Thankful Poor
Wiki Commons by Henry Ossawa Tanner
Do you know the name of this art piece that captures the life of ordinary people?
The Young Sabot Maker
He Healed the Sick
The Holy Family
The Thankful Poor

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5 Sunrise over the Eastern Sea
Wiki Commons by Fujishima Takeji
Influenced by early 20th century French art, what Japanese painting is this?
Reminiscence of the Tempyo Era
Black Fan
Sunrise over the Eastern Sea
The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife
6 Gustav Klimt the kiss
Wiki Commons by Google Art Project, Gustav Klimt
Created during Gustav Klimt's "Golden Period," do you know the name of this painting?
Danae
Death and Life
The Maiden
The Kiss
25 Liberty Leading the People
Wiki Commons by Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada
Can you identify this artwork that shows both the horrors and necessity of the French Revolution of 1830?
Departure of the Volunteers of 1792
Women of Algiers
Liberty Leading the People
The Massacre of Chios

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39 John Everett Millais Ophelia
Wiki Commons by John Everett Millais
This painting depicts the subject of a Shakespearean play. Do you know its title?
Ophelia
Beata Beatrix
Mariana
The Blind Girl
29 Joseph Wright A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery
Wiki Commons by europeana.eu
Joseph Wright was influenced by the Scientific Revolution in this piece of art known as what?
Still Life in Studio
A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery
The French Ambassadors
Building More Stately Mansions
35 The_Hunters_in_the_Snow
Wiki Commons by Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel uses his mastery of landscapes to create this work known as what?
The Magpie
Hunters in the Snow
The Fox Hunt
Netherlandish Proverbs

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20 Goya Third of May, 1808
Wiki Commons by The Prado in Google Earth
Are you able to identify this work that depicts a Spanish massacre?
Rue Transnonain
The Nightmare
Echo I
Third of May, 1808
11 Creation_of_Adam_Michelangelo
Wiki Commons by Michelangelo
One of the most important paintings from the Italian Renaissance, this painting was given what name?
Creation of Adam
Annunciation
Tobias and the Angel
Last Judgement
26 Rembrandt Christ with the Sick around Him, Receiving the Children
Wiki Commons by cQEMT9y2iQ_A7Q at Google Cultural Institute
Depicting Christ during one of his sermons, what's the title of this print by Rembrandt van Rijn?
Triumph of the Name of Jesus
Christ with the Sick around Him, Receiving the Children
Deposition
Glory

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8 Edward Hopper Nighthawks
"Wiki Commons by 21 January 1942: completed by Edward Hopper 13 May 1942: bought by Daniel Catton Rich, director of the Art Institute of Chicago, for 3,000 US$"
What painting is this that captures the look of a downtown diner in the early 1940s?
Nighthawks
Automat
Chop Suey
Room in New York
1 Grant_DeVolson_Wood_-_American_Gothic
Wiki Commons by Friends of American Art Collection
Inspired by a small town in Iowa, can you name this painting that was first exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago?
American Gothic
Spring in Town
Young Corn
Parson Weems' Fable
22 A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Wiki Commons by Georges Seurat
What do you call this major example of the pointillist genre of paintings?
Mouth of the Seine at Honfleur, evening
The Circus
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Bathers at Asnieres

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17 Giaele_e_Sisara
Wiki Commons by Artemisia Gentileschi
Do you recognize this painting that depicts a story from the Book of Judges in the Bible?
The Angelus
Transfiguration
Jael and Sisera
The Return of the Prodigal Son
38 Frederic Church Twilight in the Wilderness
Wiki Commons by wartburg.edu
What's the name of this piece of art created to show the contrast in the American character of 1860?
Pittsburgh Memory
Spring Way
Twilight in the Wilderness
Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains
15 William Hogarth Breakfast Scene
Wiki Commons by The National Gallery
This painting satirizing the middle-class in England is called what?
Breakfast Scene
The Broken Column
Lord Heathfield
A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery

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23 Jacques-Louis_David_-_Oath_of_the_Horatii
Wiki Commons by Jacques-Louis David
An influential work in the Neoclassical style that arose in the late-18th century, do you recognize this painting?
Oath of the Horatii
The Coronation of Napoleon
The Intervention of the Sabine Women
The Tennis Court Oath
27 Rosa Bonheur The Horse Fair
Wiki Commons by Rosa Bonheur
Do you recognize this work created by Rosa Bonheur after studying animal anatomy?
The Horse Fair
The Charging Chasseur
Whistlejacket
The Races at Longchamp
7 Guernica
Wiki Commons by Herbert Behrens / Anefo
This famous political artwork by Pablo Picasso is called what?
The Weeping Woman
Guernica
Bull's Head
Ma Jolie

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31 Raphael School of Athens
Wiki Commons by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino
Have you studied enough art to name this masterpiece by Raphael that was commissioned by Pope Julius II?
School of Athens
The Marriage of the Virgin
Transfiguration
The Parnassus
24 Gericault Insane Woman
Wiki Commons by Rama
This art portrait from the Romantic artist Theodore Gericault is called what?
Grande Odalisque
Insane Woman
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
Olympia
12 Night Watch
Wiki Commons by Rembrandt
A painting that's recognized for its use of light and shadow, can you identify this work by Rembrandt?
Return of the Prodigal Son
Syndics of the Drapers' Guild
Night Watch
The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis

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37 A Storm Georgia O'Keeffe
Wiki Commons by Vexations
An example of American Modernism, this artwork is known by which title?
Sunrise
Light Coming on the Plains
Abstraction White Rose
A Storm
32 Glorification of Saint Ignatius
Wiki Commons by Laszlo
A ceiling fresco located in the nave of Sant'Ignazio in Rome, can you name this artwork?
Triumph of the Name of Jesus
Triumph of the Barberini
Aurora
Glorification of Saint Ignatius
14 Diego Velazquez Las Meninas
Wiki Commons by Diego Velazquez
What's the title of this mysterious painting by Diego Velazquez that was created during the Baroque period in Spain?
Portrait of Innocent X
Rokeby Venus
Las Hilanderas
Las Meninas

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10 Banquet in the House of Levi
Wiki Commons by © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro / CC BY-SA 4.0
Paolo Veronese used classical architecture in many of his works such as this one. What's it called?
Allegory of Vanity
Christ in the House of Levi
Last Supper
Triumph of Venice
28 The_Love_Letter_-_Jan_Vermeer_van_Delft
Wiki Commons by Corel Professional Photos CD-ROM
One of Jan Vermeer's interior masterpieces, name this piece of art?
Mural
Autumn Rhythm
Convergence
The Letter
33 Pieter Claesz Vanitas Still Life
Wiki Commons by Staszek99
Painted by the still-life artist Pieter Claesz, what's the name of the piece of Dutch art?
Cabeza
Still Life with a Late Ming Ginger Jar
Vanitas Still Life
Skull

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30 Caravaggio-The_Conversion_on_the_Way_to_D
Wiki Commons by Web Gallery of Art
This dramatic piece of Italian art is noted for its use of perspective. What's it called?
Flight into Egypt
Surrender of Breda
Conversion on the Way to Damascus
Pilgrimage to Cythera
13 Sirani_Virgin_and_Child
Wiki Commons by Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Conservation funds generously provided by the Southern California State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Depicting Mary, the mother of Jesus, in a realistic manner, do you know the name of this painting by Elisabetta Sirani?
Madonna and Child
Virgin and Child
The Sistine Madonna
Madonna Litta
34 Louise Bourgeois Maman
Wiki Commons by hh oldman
Can you identify this piece of art created by Louise Bourgeois around the theme of infidelity?
Maman
Cumul I
Quarantania I
Articulated Lair

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19 Michelangelo David
Wiki Commons by Michelangelo
Can you name this marble sculpture created by the Renaissance master Michelangelo?
The Thinker
David
Pieta
Tian Tan Buddha