Leonardo da Vinci - Quiz
Leonardo da Vinci
  • 1. When was Leonardo da Vinci born?
A) June 15, 1478
B) April 15, 1452
C) March 22, 1433
D) August 10, 1520
  • 2. Which Italian ruler was a patron of Leonardo da Vinci?
A) Napoleon Bonaparte
B) Julius Caesar
C) Ludovico Sforza
D) Cleopatra
  • 3. What is Leonardo da Vinci's most famous portrait?
A) Mona Lisa
B) Girl with a Pearl Earring
C) American Gothic
D) The Starry Night
  • 4. What French king invited Leonardo da Vinci to live and work at the Château de Cloux?
A) Louis XIV
B) Henry VIII
C) Philip II
D) Francis I
  • 5. What did Leonardo da Vinci dissect to study human anatomy?
A) Animals
B) Corpses
C) Mannequins
D) Insects
  • 6. What was the name of Leonardo da Vinci's notebook filled with sketches and ideas?
A) Codex
B) Tablet
C) Scroll
D) Tome
  • 7. Who was the teacher who inspired and encouraged Leonardo da Vinci's artistic talents?
A) Pablo Picasso
B) Rembrandt
C) Vincent van Gogh
D) Andrea del Verrocchio
  • 8. What is the title of the mural painted by Leonardo da Vinci that depicts the dinner Jesus had with his disciples before his crucifixion?
A) The Birth of Venus
B) The Last Supper
C) The Creation of Adam
D) The Sistine Chapel
  • 9. What is Leonardo da Vinci's full name?
A) Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci
B) Leonardo Michelangelo di Vinci
C) Leonardo Raphael da Vinci
D) Leonardo Donatello di Vinci
  • 10. Where did Leonardo spend his last three years?
A) Rome
B) Milan
C) France
D) Florence
  • 11. What record did Salvator Mundi set in 2017?
A) Oldest painting sold at auction
B) First painting by Leonardo sold at auction
C) Most expensive painting sold at public auction
D) Largest painting sold at auction
  • 12. Which field did Leonardo make substantial discoveries in?
A) Philosophy
B) Astronomy
C) Anatomy
D) Chemistry
  • 13. What type of vehicle did Leonardo conceptualize?
A) Armoured fighting vehicle
B) Steam engine
C) Hot air balloon
D) Submarine
  • 14. Which invention by Leonardo entered manufacturing unheralded?
A) Ratio machine
B) Armoured fighting vehicle
C) Flying machine
D) Automated bobbin winder
  • 15. What is the approximate distance of Vinci from Florence?
A) 30 miles
B) 20 miles
C) 50 miles
D) 10 miles
  • 16. What was Leonardo's father's profession?
A) Artisan
B) Florentine legal notary
C) Merchant
D) Painter
  • 17. What nickname was given to Antonio di Piero Buti del Vacca?
A) 'The notary'
B) 'The quarrelsome one'
C) 'The painter'
D) 'The scholar'
  • 18. How many times did Ser Piero marry after Caterina?
A) Four
B) Two
C) Three
D) One
  • 19. How many half-siblings did Leonardo have who survived infancy?
A) 5
B) 16
C) 8
D) 11
  • 20. At what age was the last of Leonardo's half-siblings born?
A) 50 years old
B) 40 years old
C) 46 years old
D) 30 years old
  • 21. What type of education did Leonardo receive?
A) Basic and informal
B) Religious schooling
C) Advanced formal
D) Military training
  • 22. Which skills were included in Leonardo's basic education?
A) (Vernacular) writing, reading, and mathematics
B) Engineering, anatomy, and astronomy
C) Sculpture, painting, and music
D) Latin, philosophy, and science
  • 23. What is the name of Leonardo's earliest memory recorded in the Codex Atlanticus?
A) Meeting his father
B) Flying a bird for the first time
C) Painting his first artwork
D) A kite came to his cradle and opened his mouth with its tail
  • 24. Who recorded Leonardo's biography in 'Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'?
A) Giorgio Vasari
B) Antonio da Vinci
C) Francesco da Vinci
D) Leonardo da Vinci
  • 25. Where did Leonardo da Vinci become an apprentice around the age of 14?
A) Bargello
B) Verrocchio's workshop
C) Platonic Academy
D) Medici Palace
  • 26. Which artist's death coincided with Leonardo becoming a studio boy?
A) Ghiberti
B) Masaccio
C) Piero della Francesca
D) Donatello
  • 27. Who were Leonardo's contemporaries that he met at Verrocchio's workshop?
A) Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino
B) Michelangelo, Bramante, Titian
C) Donatello, Masaccio, Ghiberti
D) Alberti, Piero della Francesca, Raphael
  • 28. Which artist's work was known for realism and emotion in frescoes?
A) Leon Battista Alberti
B) Piero della Francesca
C) Ghiberti
D) Masaccio
  • 29. What was the title of the painting Leonardo collaborated on with Verrocchio?
A) The Baptism of Christ
B) David
C) Tobias and the Angel
D) Madonna of the Rocks
  • 30. What technique did Leonardo apply to parts of 'The Baptism of Christ'?
A) Fresco
B) Tempera only
C) Oil paint
D) Watercolor
  • 31. What did Leonardo paint on a buckler shield that was sold for 100 ducats?
A) A monster spitting fire
B) The Last Supper
C) Mona Lisa
D) Vitruvian Man
  • 32. What was the form of the silver string instrument Leonardo brought to Milan?
A) A dolphin's tail
B) A lion's mane
C) A horse's head
D) An eagle's beak
  • 33. What was the name of the equestrian monument Leonardo planned for Ludovico Sforza?
A) Bartolomeo Colleoni
B) Regisole
C) Gattamelata
D) Gran Cavallo
  • 34. What was the trompe-l'œil decoration in the Sala delle Asse intended to resemble?
A) A vineyard
B) A pergola created by interwoven mulberry trees
C) A garden of roses
D) A forest of oak trees
  • 35. Where did Leonardo flee to after Ludovico Sforza was overthrown?
A) Venice
B) Rome
C) Florence
D) Milan
  • 36. Who was Leonardo in service to in Cesena in 1502?
A) Cesare Borgia
B) Charles II d'Amboise
C) Ludovico Sforza
D) Pope Alexander VI
  • 37. Which anatomical feature did Leonardo da Vinci make one of the first scientific drawings of in utero?
A) Foetus
B) Liver
C) Heart
D) Lungs
  • 38. Who assumed the papacy in March 1513?
A) Pope Clement VII
B) Pope Julius II
C) Giuliano de' Medici
D) Lorenzo de' Medici's son Giovanni as Leo X
  • 39. What was the total amount of Leonardo's pension in France?
A) 5,000 ducats
B) 8,000 crowns
C) 10,000 scudi
D) 15,000 florins
  • 40. Where did Leonardo da Vinci die?
A) Florence
B) Milan
C) Rome
D) Clos Lucé
  • 41. What was the height of the skeleton discovered by Houssaye?
A) 1.60 metres (5.3 ft)
B) 2.00 metres (6.6 ft)
C) 1.73 metres (5.7 ft)
D) 1.50 metres (4.9 ft)
  • 42. What nickname was given to Leonardo's assistant Salaì?
A) The Master's Shadow
B) The Little Genius
C) Il Salaino
D) The Pupil
  • 43. Who was Leonardo working on an equestrian monument for?
A) Lorenzo de' Medici
B) Gian Giacomo Trivulzio
C) Pope Leo X
D) King Francis I of France
  • 44. Which king of France supported Leonardo in his old age?
A) Henry II
B) Francis I
C) Charles IX
D) Louis XII
  • 45. Under whom did Leonardo da Vinci study mathematics in the 1490s?
A) Luca Pacioli
B) Nicolas Poussin
C) Cardinal Louis d'Aragon
D) Marcantonio della Torre
  • 46. What is 'sfumato', a technique used by Leonardo?
A) A method of using bright, contrasting colors
B) The subtle shadowing that creates a smoky effect
C) A way to create three-dimensional effects with lines
D) A style of painting with visible brushstrokes
  • 47. What was Leonardo da Vinci's painting technique for 'The Last Supper'?
A) Encaustic wax painting
B) Fresco on wet plaster
C) Tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso
D) Oil on canvas
  • 48. Who was King Francis I's royal advisor that sent instructions regarding Leonardo?
A) Francesco Melzi
B) Antonio Maria Pallavicini
C) Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet
D) Lorenzo di Credi
  • 49. Who was Leonardo's favourite student?
A) Bernardino Luini
B) Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio
C) Count Francesco Melzi
D) Marco d'Oggiono
  • 50. What did Vasari say about the 'Mona Lisa's' smile?
A) 'It is a simple and unremarkable feature'
B) 'It is identical to the original model's smile'
C) 'So pleasing that it seems more divine than human'
D) 'It lacks any emotional depth'
  • 51. What was the subject of a project Leonardo may have commenced for Charles II d'Amboise?
A) A mural
B) A map
C) A portrait
D) An equestrian figure
  • 52. In what year did Leonardo first state the 'laws' of sliding friction in his notebooks?
A) 1512
B) 1493
C) 1520
D) 1505
  • 53. Who observed Leonardo at work on 'The Last Supper' and wrote about it?
A) Matteo Bandello
B) Ludovico Sforza
C) Vasari
D) Michelangelo
  • 54. Who made explicit his opinion that Leonardo's relations with Salaì were intimate and homosexual?
A) Sigmund Freud
B) Walter Isaacson
C) Vasari
D) Melzi
  • 55. Which artist's drawings were based on Leonardo's anatomical studies for publication?
A) Nicolas Poussin
B) Titian
C) Michelangelo
D) Raphael
  • 56. Which river's flow did Leonardo devise a scheme to divert in 1502?
A) Arno
B) Adige
C) Tiber
D) Po
  • 57. What was one of the projects Leonardo worked on for Pope Leo X regarding the Pontine Marshes?
A) Plans for draining them
B) Building a new church
C) Designing a fountain
D) Creating a botanical garden
  • 58. What did Leonardo decorate with scales dipped in quicksilver?
A) A manuscript
B) A statue
C) A painting
D) A lizard
  • 59. What did Leonardo make notes on while dissecting cadavers in the Vatican Gardens?
A) A treatise on vocal cords
B) Botanical studies
C) Anatomy of the human body
D) Engineering designs
  • 60. What was found on one finger of the skeleton discovered by Arsène Houssaye?
A) A bronze ring
B) An iron nail
C) A gold necklace
D) A silver bracelet
  • 61. Which pupil of Leonardo is considered to have artistic merit comparable to others like Marco d'Oggiono?
A) Salaì
B) Luca Pacioli
C) Boltraffio
D) Melzi
  • 62. Which painting by Leonardo da Vinci is characterized by the Virgin Mary sitting or kneeling to the right, approached by an angel?
A) Mona Lisa
B) Virgin of the Rocks
C) Annunciations
D) Saint Jerome in the Wilderness
  • 63. Where did Leonardo live from September 1513 to 1516?
A) At Medici's Vaprio d'Adda villa
B) In the Belvedere Courtyard in the Apostolic Palace, Rome
C) Clos Lucé near Château d'Amboise
D) Porta Orientale, Milan
  • 64. What event led to the demolition of the church where Leonardo was buried?
A) The Black Plague
B) World War I
C) An earthquake in 1802
D) The French Revolution
  • 65. Which drawing technique did Leonardo use in 'The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist'?
A) Chiaroscuro
B) Impasto
C) Grisaille
D) Sfumato
  • 66. What did Leonardo identify as defining the circulatory system?
A) The lungs
B) The heart
C) The liver
D) The brain
  • 67. Who owns the Codex Leicester?
A) The British Library
B) Robert Lehman
C) Bill Gates
D) John Nicholas Brown I
  • 68. Which book did Leonardo collaborate on with mathematician Luca Pacioli?
A) Mona Lisa
B) The Last Supper
C) Vitruvian Man
D) Divina proportione
  • 69. What was Leonardo given as a monthly allowance in Rome?
A) 33 ducats
B) 20 florins
C) 40 crowns
D) 50 scudi
  • 70. Which flying machine did Leonardo design that mimics bird flight?
A) Hot air balloon
B) Glider
C) Flapping ornithopter
D) Helicopter
  • 71. Which Renaissance movement recognized no polarities between the sciences and the arts?
A) The Enlightenment
B) Romanticism
C) Renaissance humanism
D) Baroque period
  • 72. Which painting by Leonardo da Vinci is characterized by a calm young woman accepting her role as the Mother of God with confidence?
A) The larger Annunciation
B) Saint Jerome in the Wilderness
C) Mona Lisa
D) Lady with an Ermine
  • 73. Who also worked on the project to divert the Arno river's flow alongside Leonardo?
A) Ludovico il Moro
B) Niccolò Machiavelli
C) Michelangelo
D) Pope Leo X
  • 74. Who discovered a partially complete skeleton believed to be Leonardo's remains?
A) Charles Nicholl
B) Arsène Houssaye
C) Mary Margaret Heaton
D) Napoleon III
  • 75. Who collaborated with Leonardo in his anatomical studies from 1510 to 1511?
A) Verrocchio
B) Nicolas Poussin
C) Luca Pacioli
D) Marcantonio della Torre
  • 76. In which year did Leonardo write to Ludovico il Moro about creating machines for city protection?
A) 1499
B) 1482
C) 1510
D) 1502
  • 77. Which of the following did Leonardo not study anatomically?
A) Bears
B) Insects
C) Cows
D) Monkeys
  • 78. How was the painting referred to as Joconda valued in Salaì's posthumous inventory?
A) 1000 lire
B) 750 lire
C) 505 lire
D) 300 lire
  • 79. In what year was Leonardo charged with sodomy, and how old was he at the time?
A) 1503, aged fifty-two
B) 1492, aged forty-one
C) 1476, aged twenty-four
D) 1485, aged thirty-three
  • 80. What technique did Leonardo perfect that represents internal components in technical drawings?
A) Perspective view
B) Exploded view
C) Orthographic projection
D) Isometric view
  • 81. What did Leonardo create that walked towards the King during a pageant?
A) An equestrian statue
B) A portrait of Louise of Savoy
C) A painting of Francis I
D) A mechanical lion
  • 82. On what date did Leonardo da Vinci pass away?
A) May 2, 1519
B) June 23, 1524
C) March 30, 1498
D) April 15, 1506
  • 83. When did Leonardo return to Florence after leaving Borgia's service?
A) Mid-1505
B) Early 1503
C) Early 1506
D) Late 1504
  • 84. Where was Leonardo sorting out a dispute in 1507?
A) Milan
B) Rome
C) Florence
D) Venice
  • 85. Which television series built ten machines designed by Leonardo?
A) Leonardo's Dream Machines
B) Masters of Invention
C) The Art of Engineering
D) Doing DaVinci
  • 86. Which of Leonardo's works is noted for its androgyny and eroticism?
A) Mona Lisa
B) Vitruvian Man
C) Saint John the Baptist
D) The Last Supper
  • 87. What year were documents published revealing Houssaye's actions?
A) 1999
B) 2019
C) 2005
D) 1987
  • 88. Who summoned Leonardo to Milan in 1506?
A) Pope Alexander VI
B) Ludovico Sforza
C) Charles II d'Amboise
D) Cesare Borgia
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