Q. What is this, the world's most famous portrait, painted by Leonardo da Vinci?
Options: Vitruvian Man · The Mona Lisa · Praying Hands · Tulip mania
Answer: The Mona Lisa
The painting famous for its mysterious smile.
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The Renaissance and the Age of Exploration — answers and explanations for all 200 questions. Cover the answer, have a guess first, then check the explanation. Want to play it as a quiz? Try it at the Quiz Playground!
Q. Which explorer reached the Americas in 1492?
Options: Columbus · Cook · Amundsen · Magellan
Answer: Columbus
Columbus crossed the Atlantic and reached a land new to Europeans.
Q. Which expedition first sailed all the way around the world?
Options: Magellan's expedition · Columbus's expedition · Zheng He's fleet · The Vikings
Answer: Magellan's expedition
Magellan's fleet proved by sailing that the Earth is round.
Q. Who painted the 'Mona Lisa' and 'The Last Supper' in the Renaissance?
Options: Van Gogh · Raphael · Michelangelo · Leonardo da Vinci
Answer: Leonardo da Vinci
Da Vinci was a genius at painting, science, and invention all at once.
Q. Which Renaissance artist sculpted the 'David'?
Options: Da Vinci · Michelangelo · Picasso · Rodin
Answer: Michelangelo
Michelangelo also painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Q. Who spread books across Europe with movable-type printing?
Options: Columbus · Shakespeare · Gutenberg · Da Vinci
Answer: Gutenberg
Gutenberg's printing spread books and knowledge fast.
Q. What do we call the age when Europeans set out to find new sea routes?
Options: The Age of Exploration · The Industrial Age · The Stone Age · The Space Age
Answer: The Age of Exploration
To the sea! The Age of Exploration.
Q. Why did Europeans risk their lives searching for sea routes?
Options: To go on vacation · To catch fish · They loved swimming · To get spices and new trade routes
Answer: To get spices and new trade routes
Spices like pepper were worth their weight in gold!
Q. Which country funded Columbus's voyage?
Options: England · Spain · Germany · France
Answer: Spain
Spain! Queen Isabella gave him ships, and Columbus thought he was going to India — but he landed in the Americas.
Q. Where did Columbus first think he had landed?
Options: India · China · Australia · Africa
Answer: India
That's why he called the native people 'Indians'.
Q. Which explorer rounded Africa's southern tip and opened the sea route to India?
Options: Vasco da Gama · Captain Cook · Columbus · Magellan
Answer: Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama of Portugal!
Q. What did Magellan's voyage around the world prove?
Options: That the Earth is flat · That the Earth is round · That the Moon is close · That the sea is small
Answer: That the Earth is round
Keep going one direction and you end up back where you started!
Q. Which 'peaceful sea' did Magellan name?
Options: The Atlantic · The Pacific · The Arctic Ocean · The Indian Ocean
Answer: The Pacific
The Pacific — the name means 'peaceful'!
Q. Where did the name 'America' come from?
Options: Native Americans · Amerigo Vespucci · Magellan · Columbus
Answer: Amerigo Vespucci
From the name of the explorer Amerigo Vespucci.
Q. Which crop did NOT come to Europe from the Americas?
Options: Corn · Rice · Potatoes · Tomatoes
Answer: Rice
Rice has been grown in Asia for ages!
Q. What role did the potato from the Americas play in Europe?
Options: A decorative flower · Only medicine · A grateful food that eased hunger · Only animal feed
Answer: A grateful food that eased hunger
Thanks to potatoes, many people had enough to eat!
Q. Which disease did sailors dread in the Age of Exploration?
Options: Cavities · Body aches · Scurvy · The common cold
Answer: Scurvy
Scurvy, from a lack of vegetables and fruit.
Q. Which continent was the Inca Empire on?
Options: Asia · Africa · Europe · South America
Answer: South America
The Inca Empire of the Andes mountains!
Q. What is the Inca Empire's sky-high city ruin?
Options: Angkor Wat · The pyramids · Machu Picchu · The Great Wall
Answer: Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu, above the clouds!
Q. Which country today is where the Aztec Empire was?
Options: Mexico · Egypt · India · Spain
Answer: Mexico
Mexico City sits on the site of the Aztec capital.
Q. What was the dark side of the Age of Exploration?
Options: The seas got cleaner · Native peoples suffered and the slave trade began · Everyone was happy · Wars disappeared
Answer: Native peoples suffered and the slave trade began
Behind the exchange came the pain of invasion and slavery.
Q. Who first enjoyed cacao (what chocolate is made from)?
Options: The English · The Japanese · The Aztec and Maya · The Egyptians
Answer: The Aztec and Maya
It was the 'drink of the gods' in the Americas!
Q. What does 'Renaissance' mean?
Options: Revolution · War · Voyage · Rebirth
Answer: Rebirth
The rebirth of ancient Greek and Roman culture!
Q. Which country did the Renaissance begin in?
Options: England · The United States · Russia · Italy
Answer: Italy
It bloomed in Florence.
Q. Which rich Florence family funded the Renaissance artists?
Options: The Rothschilds · The Habsburgs · The Medici · The Bourbons
Answer: The Medici
The Medici, patrons of the arts!
Q. Besides painting, what else was Leonardo da Vinci good at?
Options: Only cooking · Soccer · Science and invention · Only singing
Answer: Science and invention
An all-around genius who even sketched a helicopter!
Q. What makes da Vinci's notebooks special?
Options: They have no drawings · He wrote so you need a mirror to read it · He wrote in gold · They smelled nice
Answer: He wrote so you need a mirror to read it
He recorded everything in backwards 'mirror writing'!
Q. Which artist painted 'The Creation' on the Sistine Chapel ceiling?
Options: Raphael · Van Gogh · Da Vinci · Michelangelo
Answer: Michelangelo
He hung from that ceiling painting for four years!
Q. Which artist is NOT one of the Renaissance's three great masters?
Options: Raphael · Picasso · Da Vinci · Michelangelo
Answer: Picasso
Picasso! The three masters are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael — Picasso is a 20th-century painter, 400 years later.
Q. Which French museum is the 'Mona Lisa' hanging in?
Options: The British Museum · The Louvre · The Guggenheim · The Prado
Answer: The Louvre
It's in the Louvre in Paris.
Q. Which spirit became important again in the Renaissance?
Options: Unquestioning obedience · Valuing human beings (humanism) · The spirit of war · Self-denial
Answer: Valuing human beings (humanism)
Humanism — putting people at the center!
Q. How did Gutenberg's printing change the world?
Options: Only pictures remained · Books got cheap and fast, so knowledge spread · Letters disappeared · Books vanished
Answer: Books got cheap and fast, so knowledge spread
The start of the knowledge revolution!
Q. Who began the Reformation in 1517 by criticizing the church's faults?
Options: Henry VIII · Martin Luther · Calvin · The Pope
Answer: Martin Luther
Luther, who posted his 95 Theses!
Q. Which book did Luther translate into German so everyone could read it?
Options: The Quran · The Iliad · The Bible · The Analects
Answer: The Bible
He let everyone read the Bible.
Q. Which Polish astronomer argued that the Earth orbits the Sun?
Options: Kepler · Newton · Galileo · Copernicus
Answer: Copernicus
Copernicus of the heliocentric theory!
Q. Which Italian scientist discovered Jupiter's moons with a telescope?
Options: Copernicus · Newton · Edison · Galileo
Answer: Galileo
'And yet it moves' — Galileo!
Q. Which experiment is Galileo said to have done at the Leaning Tower of Pisa?
Options: A lightning experiment · Flying balloons · Dropping objects · Boiling water
Answer: Dropping objects
Heavy and light things fall together!
Q. Which scientist studied gravity after seeing an apple fall?
Options: Einstein · Newton · Darwin · Galileo
Answer: Newton
Newton of universal gravitation!
Q. Which early modern doctor showed that blood circulates the body?
Options: Avicenna · Harvey · Hippocrates · Pasteur
Answer: Harvey
It was William Harvey's discovery.
Q. Who first observed microbes with a microscope?
Options: Newton · Darwin · Leeuwenhoek · Galileo
Answer: Leeuwenhoek
Leeuwenhoek of the Netherlands!
Q. Which French king is famous for saying 'I am the state'?
Options: Louis XVI · Napoleon · Henry VIII · Louis XIV
Answer: Louis XIV
Louis XIV, the Sun King!
Q. Which splendid palace did Louis XIV build?
Options: The Forbidden City · Buckingham Palace · The Kremlin · The Palace of Versailles
Answer: The Palace of Versailles
Versailles, famous for its Hall of Mirrors!
Q. Which English playwright wrote 'Romeo and Juliet'?
Options: Shakespeare · Dickens · Tolstoy · Goethe
Answer: Shakespeare
Shakespeare, the pride of England!
Q. Which is NOT a work of Shakespeare?
Options: Chunhyangjeon · The Merchant of Venice · Hamlet · King Lear
Answer: Chunhyangjeon
Chunhyangjeon! Shakespeare wrote 'Hamlet' and 'Romeo and Juliet' — Chunhyangjeon is a Korean tale passed down by word of mouth.
Q. Which queen beat the Armada, making her land 'the empire on which the sun never sets'?
Options: Marie Antoinette · Queen Victoria · Queen Isabella · Elizabeth I
Answer: Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England!
Q. What was the name of the Spanish fleet England defeated in 1588?
Options: The Pacific Fleet · The Combined Fleet · The Invincible Armada · The Pirate Fleet
Answer: The Invincible Armada
The 'invincible' Armada lost to England!
Q. Which emperor reformed Russia into a great power?
Options: Peter the Great · Ivan the Terrible · Nicholas II · Catherine the Great
Answer: Peter the Great
Peter the Great, who went and learned European ways!
Q. In which field was the Netherlands the world's best in early modern times?
Options: Sea trade · Cars · Space travel · Movies
Answer: Sea trade
The East India Company dominated the seas!
Q. Which flower-loving country is famous for tulips?
Options: The Netherlands · Brazil · Mongolia · Egypt
Answer: The Netherlands
The Netherlands! It's built on land reclaimed from below sea level, and the soil suits tulips perfectly — it still exports more flowers than anyone.
Q. What did the Ming dynasty's great fleet under Zheng He do?
Options: Conquered Europe · Sailed all the way to Africa · Explored the Arctic · Explored the Moon
Answer: Sailed all the way to Africa
He sailed earlier and bigger than Columbus!
Q. What is the beautiful white marble building of India's Mughal Empire?
Options: The Parthenon · The pyramids · The Taj Mahal · Angkor Wat
Answer: The Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal, built in longing for a queen!
Q. What was the Taj Mahal built for?
Options: A school · A fortress · A market · A queen's tomb
Answer: A queen's tomb
It holds Emperor Shah Jahan's love story.
Q. Which era did Tokugawa Ieyasu open in early modern Japan?
Options: The Edo period · The Meiji period · The Showa period · The Heian period
Answer: The Edo period
The Edo (today's Tokyo) period!
Q. Which city did the Ottoman Empire capture in 1453?
Options: Paris · London · Rome · Constantinople
Answer: Constantinople
The Byzantine Empire came to an end.
Q. Which sultan led the Ottoman Empire at its peak?
Options: Muhammad · Saladin · Timur · Suleiman the Magnificent
Answer: Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman 'the Magnificent'!
Q. Which giant imperial palace was built in China's Ming dynasty?
Options: The Forbidden City · Gyeongbokgung · The Kremlin · Versailles
Answer: The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City, with thousands of rooms!
Q. Which dynasty ruled China after the Ming?
Options: The Han · The Qing · The Song · The Tang
Answer: The Qing
The Qing dynasty of the Manchu people.
Q. Who sailed to America on the Mayflower in 1620?
Options: The Crusaders · The Vikings · The knights · The Pilgrims
Answer: The Pilgrims
The Pilgrims, who left seeking freedom of faith!
Q. What is American Thanksgiving connected to?
Options: A gold strike · A war victory · The Pilgrims' feast giving thanks for the first harvest · A king's birthday
Answer: The Pilgrims' feast giving thanks for the first harvest
Giving thanks for the first harvest, gathered with help from the native people!
Q. Which new drink did early modern European nobles NOT enjoy?
Options: Cocoa · Coffee · Tea · Cola
Answer: Cola
Cola! European nobles fell for coffee, tea, and chocolate — cola was born in America in the late 1800s.
Q. Where did tea culture come to Europe from?
Options: China · The Arctic · The United States · Africa
Answer: China
China! Tea sailed to Europe and even created Britain's 'afternoon tea' culture.
Q. What do potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn have in common?
Options: They're from Asia · They're from the Americas · They're from Europe · They're from Africa
Answer: They're from the Americas
All crops from the New World!
Q. Who founded the Ming dynasty, having been born a peasant?
Options: Taishan · Wang Anshi · Zhu Yuanzhang · Wu Lun
Answer: Zhu Yuanzhang
A man who rose from beggar to emperor!
Q. What did early modern European merchants create that's the ancestor of today's company?
Options: The East India Company · The post office · Convenience stores · Only banks
Answer: The East India Company
The first company to issue shares!
Q. Which city had the world's first stock market?
Options: London · Seoul · Amsterdam · New York
Answer: Amsterdam
Amsterdam in the Netherlands!
Q. Which early modern thinker coined the word 'utopia'?
Options: Luther · Erasmus · Thomas More · Machiavelli
Answer: Thomas More
Utopia — 'the place that is nowhere'!
Q. Which Italian thinker wrote 'The Prince'?
Options: Kant · Rousseau · Thomas More · Machiavelli
Answer: Machiavelli
Machiavelli, who discussed politics as it really is!
Q. Which Spanish writer wrote 'Don Quixote'?
Options: Hugo · Cervantes · Shakespeare · Goethe
Answer: Cervantes
Cervantes, and his knight who fought windmills!
Q. What did Don Quixote charge at, mistaking it for a monster?
Options: Windmills · A well · A castle wall · A tree
Answer: Windmills
He mistook the spinning windmills for giants!
Q. Which tool was NOT needed for early modern voyages?
Options: A compass · GPS navigation · A map · A telescope
Answer: GPS navigation
GPS! Back then they navigated by compass and the stars — GPS is modern technology that needs satellites.
Q. Which navigation tool found a ship's position from the stars?
Options: A scale · A magnifying glass · A thermometer · A quadrant (star-sighting device)
Answer: A quadrant (star-sighting device)
They calculated position from the height of the stars!
Q. Which food would NOT have been loaded on an Age of Exploration ship?
Options: Salted fish · Ice cream · Dried meat · Hardtack
Answer: Ice cream
No refrigerators, so ice cream was impossible!
Q. Which technique did Renaissance painters first master?
Options: Doodling · Pointillism · Comic technique · Perspective
Answer: Perspective
Perspective — showing far and near!
Q. What is perspective?
Options: Drawing upside down · Drawing near things big and far things small · Drawing in one color · Drawing everything the same size
Answer: Drawing near things big and far things small
It gave paintings depth!
Q. Which invention sketch did da Vinci NOT leave behind?
Options: A parachute · A helicopter · A smartphone · Diving gear
Answer: A smartphone
He couldn't have imagined a smartphone... or could he?
Q. What gathering of dance and music was the fashion at early modern European courts?
Options: A talent show · A sports day · A ball · Camping
Answer: A ball
The ball, with its splendid gowns!
Q. What is the famous room in the Palace of Versailles?
Options: The Hall of Shadows · The Game Room · The Hall of Mirrors · The Candle Room
Answer: The Hall of Mirrors
The Hall of Mirrors, with 357 mirrors!
Q. Why did early modern maps get more and more accurate?
Options: By chance · Thanks to satellites · Exploring and sailing piled up new information · Thanks to drones
Answer: Exploring and sailing piled up new information
The more they sailed, the better the maps got!
Q. Why is the phrase 'New World' odd from the native people's view?
Options: It's too small · It's cold · For them it was always their home · It's not land
Answer: For them it was always their home
It wasn't a 'discovery' — it was a meeting!
Q. Which is NOT a change that defines the early modern age?
Options: The Renaissance · The Age of Exploration · The Scientific Revolution · The invention of the internet
Answer: The invention of the internet
The internet is modern!
Q. What do Galileo's telescope and today's telescopes share as a purpose?
Options: Hearing sound · Smelling · Seeing far-off things up close · Measuring temperature
Answer: Seeing far-off things up close
A tool to see farther and clearer!
Q. What is the 'Mona Lisa' famous for?
Options: Her mysterious smile · Fancy jewels · Wings · A big crown
Answer: Her mysterious smile
That smile you can barely see!
Q. What is Michelangelo's 'David' made of?
Options: Gold · Bronze · Marble · Wood
Answer: Marble
From one giant block of marble!
Q. Which Ming dynasty pottery was popular in Europe?
Options: Earthenware · Blue-and-white porcelain · Onggi jars · Glassware
Answer: Blue-and-white porcelain
Blue-painted porcelain was the number-one export!
Q. What is the famous colorful woodblock print of Japan's Edo period?
Options: Frescoes · Ukiyo-e · Folk paintings · Ink paintings
Answer: Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e, famous for its wave picture!
Q. What dangerous ingredient was in the face-whitening makeup fashionable in early modern Europe?
Options: Salt · Flour · Rice powder · Lead powder
Answer: Lead powder
Lead makeup was harmful. It's banned now!
Q. What do the sails on early modern ships do?
Options: Fishing · Decoration · Catch the wind to push the ship · Bail out water
Answer: Catch the wind to push the ship
They crossed oceans on the power of the wind!
Q. What was mostly drawn on a pirate flag?
Options: Fish · Flowers and butterflies · The sun and moon · A skull and bones
Answer: A skull and bones
The skull flag called the Jolly Roger!
Q. Who were the outlaws of the Age of Exploration in the Caribbean?
Options: Pirates · Ninja · Samurai · Knights
Answer: Pirates
Pirates, after the treasure!
Q. Which South American mining city did Spain develop for its rich silver?
Options: Lima · Potosí · Buenos Aires · Rio
Answer: Potosí
Potosí! So much silver came out that people said you could build a bridge of it — but behind that was the brutal labor of native people.
Q. What did they call the network where early modern European scholars shared knowledge by letter?
Options: The Republic of Letters · The Stamp Club · The Book Club · The Email Club
Answer: The Republic of Letters
The borderless 'Republic of Letters'!
Q. In the 17th-century Netherlands, which flower's price soared to the cost of a house?
Options: Tulips · Roses · Sunflowers · Lilies
Answer: Tulips
Tulips! One bulb soared to the price of a house and then crashed in an instant — the world's first economic bubble.
Q. Which Dutch painter painted 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'?
Options: Rubens · Rembrandt · Van Gogh · Vermeer
Answer: Vermeer
Vermeer, the painter of light!
Q. Which great Dutch painter painted 'The Night Watch'?
Options: Vermeer · Rembrandt · Mondrian · Van Gogh
Answer: Rembrandt
Rembrandt of light and shadow!
Q. Which academic society founded by early modern scientists still exists today?
Options: The Gaming Society · The Patent Office · The Space Station · The Royal Society
Answer: The Royal Society
England's Royal Society, from 1660! Newton was its president too.
Q. Which principle, improved from Galileo's work, kept time accurately?
Options: Only springs · The pendulum · Sand · Water
Answer: The pendulum
The pendulum's steady swing gave us the pendulum clock!
Q. What do we call the Chinese-style fashion popular at early modern European courts?
Options: Japonism · Silk style · Chinoiserie · The Orient Express
Answer: Chinoiserie
Chinoiserie — the Chinese style of porcelain and silk!
Q. Which was Edo-period Japan's only port for trade with the West?
Options: Nagasaki · Osaka · Tokyo · Kyoto
Answer: Nagasaki
They traded only at Dejima in Nagasaki.
Q. Which country was the man from who drifted to Korea and wrote 'Hamel's Journal'?
Options: England · Spain · The Netherlands · The United States
Answer: The Netherlands
The Netherlands! Hamel drifted to Jeju, lived 13 years in Korea, then escaped — and his record first told Europe about Korea.
Q. Which garden hobby did early modern European kings enjoy, second to hunting?
Options: Strolling a hedge maze · Skiing · Video games · Surfing
Answer: Strolling a hedge maze
The maze of a Versailles-style garden!
Q. What was the men's hairstyle of the Qing dynasty, after the Ming?
Options: A crew cut · The queue (braided pigtail) · A perm · A topknot
Answer: The queue (braided pigtail)
Shaved in front, braided in back — the queue!
Q. What is this, the world's most famous portrait, painted by Leonardo da Vinci?
Options: Vitruvian Man · The Mona Lisa · Praying Hands · Tulip mania
Answer: The Mona Lisa
The painting famous for its mysterious smile.
Q. What is this mural painted by da Vinci?
Options: The Last Supper · Don Quixote · The Arnolfini Portrait · Vitruvian Man
Answer: The Last Supper
The scene of Jesus's last meal with his twelve disciples.
Q. What is this drawing of the human body by da Vinci?
Options: Praying Hands · Vitruvian Man · The Sistine Madonna · The Tower of Babel
Answer: Vitruvian Man
He drew a person inside a circle and a square.
Q. What is this painting Michelangelo made on the ceiling?
Options: The Last Supper · Ukiyo-e · The Creation of Adam · The Tower of Babel
Answer: The Creation of Adam
The fingertips of God and Adam almost — almost — touch.
Q. What is this ceiling Michelangelo spent four years painting on his back?
Options: Tulip mania · Praying Hands · The Tower of Babel · The Sistine Chapel ceiling
Answer: The Sistine Chapel ceiling
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
Q. What is this painting of the goddesses of spring by Botticelli?
Options: The Arnolfini Portrait · Ukiyo-e · The Milkmaid · Primavera (Spring)
Answer: Primavera (Spring)
Flora, goddess of flowers, announces the spring.
Q. What is this Botticelli painting of a goddess on a shell?
Options: The Arnolfini Portrait · The Great Wave off Kanagawa · The Birth of Venus · Ukiyo-e
Answer: The Birth of Venus
Venus, born from the foam of the sea.
Q. What is this Raphael painting of philosophers?
Options: Praying Hands · The Creation of Adam · The Great Wave off Kanagawa · The School of Athens
Answer: The School of Athens
Plato and Aristotle stand right in the middle.
Q. What is this Raphael painting of the Madonna?
Options: The Milkmaid · The Birth of Venus · The School of Athens · The Sistine Madonna
Answer: The Sistine Madonna
The two little angels at the bottom are especially famous.
Q. What is this famous drawing of hands by Dürer?
Options: Praying Hands · The Creation of Adam · Primavera (Spring) · The Night Watch
Answer: Praying Hands
It's said to honor a brother's devotion.
Q. What is this van Eyck painting that even paints what's in the mirror?
Options: The Milkmaid · The Arnolfini Portrait · Vitruvian Man · Girl with a Pearl Earring
Answer: The Arnolfini Portrait
The painter himself is reflected in the mirror at the back.
Q. What is this tower Bruegel painted, reaching for the sky?
Options: The Creation of Adam · The Arnolfini Portrait · The Tower of Babel · The Mona Lisa
Answer: The Tower of Babel
He painted the Bible's story of the Tower of Babel.
Q. What is this Velázquez painting of a Spanish princess and her maids?
Options: The Sistine Madonna · Las Meninas · Praying Hands · The Last Supper
Answer: Las Meninas
A masterpiece full of riddles of mirrors and gazes.
Q. What is this kitchen painting by Vermeer?
Options: Ukiyo-e · The Night Watch · Las Meninas · The Milkmaid
Answer: The Milkmaid
The moment of pouring milk is as vivid as a photograph.
Q. What is this Rembrandt painting of a militia company?
Options: The Sistine Chapel ceiling · The Milkmaid · The Night Watch · Las Meninas
Answer: The Night Watch
The masterpiece of Rembrandt, the magician of light and dark.
Q. Which Vermeer painting is called the 'Mona Lisa of the North'?
Options: The Last Supper · The Birth of Venus · The Great Wave off Kanagawa · Girl with a Pearl Earring
Answer: Girl with a Pearl Earring
The eyes of the girl looking back are captivating.
Q. What is this wave picture by the Japanese printmaker Hokusai?
Options: The Sistine Madonna · The Birth of Venus · The Great Wave off Kanagawa · The School of Athens
Answer: The Great Wave off Kanagawa
A ukiyo-e of a great wave with Mount Fuji behind it.
Q. What do we call this kind of woodblock print from Japan's Edo period?
Options: The Night Watch · The Sistine Madonna · Tulip mania · Ukiyo-e
Answer: Ukiyo-e
Prints that greatly influenced Western painters.
Q. What is this story of the odd knight who charged at windmills?
Options: The Creation of Adam · The Sistine Madonna · Vitruvian Man · Don Quixote
Answer: Don Quixote
The hero of the novel Cervantes wrote.
Q. What is this Dutch event where one flower cost as much as a house?
Options: Tulip mania · Vitruvian Man · The Tower of Babel · The Sistine Madonna
Answer: Tulip mania
It's called the world's first speculative bubble.
Q. What is this giant marble statue Michelangelo carved?
Options: David · The Potala Palace · The Süleymaniye Mosque · Cacao
Answer: David
A perfect statue of a young man, over 5 meters tall.
Q. What is the world's largest church, in the Vatican?
Options: The Winter Palace · The Gardens of Versailles · St. Peter's Basilica · The Globe Theatre
Answer: St. Peter's Basilica
Michelangelo designed its dome.
Q. Which Florence museum is full of Renaissance paintings?
Options: St Paul's Cathedral · Versailles · El Escorial · The Uffizi Gallery
Answer: The Uffizi Gallery
The Medici family's collection is gathered there.
Q. Which bridge in Florence has shops lined up along it?
Options: The Ponte Vecchio · Catherine Palace · The Globe Theatre · St. Peter's Basilica
Answer: The Ponte Vecchio
The name means 'old bridge'.
Q. What is this white bridge on Venice's Grand Canal?
Options: The Rialto Bridge · The Brandenburg Gate · All Saints' Church, Wittenberg · The Hall of Mirrors
Answer: The Rialto Bridge
It's the oldest bridge in Venice.
Q. Which French château is said to have a staircase designed by da Vinci?
Options: The Prague Astronomical Clock · The Winter Palace · The Ponte Vecchio · Château de Chambord
Answer: Château de Chambord
It's famous for its double-helix staircase.
Q. Which château in France's Loire looks like it floats on the water?
Options: Château d'Azay-le-Rideau · Château de Chambord · Versailles · El Escorial
Answer: Château d'Azay-le-Rideau
A Renaissance château, beautiful in its reflection.
Q. Which lavish palace did the 'Sun King' Louis XIV build?
Options: The Palace of Versailles · The Amber Room · Belvedere Palace · The Prague Astronomical Clock
Answer: The Palace of Versailles
The most splendid palace in Europe.
Q. What is this gleaming room in the Palace of Versailles?
Options: Château de Chambord · Château de Chenonceau · The Brandenburg Gate · The Hall of Mirrors
Answer: The Hall of Mirrors
357 mirrors fill its walls.
Q. What is this French garden trimmed into geometric patterns?
Options: Belvedere Palace · The Ponte Vecchio · The Gardens of Versailles · All Saints' Church, Wittenberg
Answer: The Gardens of Versailles
A garden as neat as if measured with a ruler.
Q. What is the summer palace of Austria's Habsburg family?
Options: Schönbrunn Palace · The Trevi Fountain · St Basil's Cathedral · The Globe Theatre
Answer: Schönbrunn Palace
It's where Mozart played as a child.
Q. What is the Prussian king's 'without a care' summer palace?
Options: The Globe Theatre · The Amber Room · Château de Chenonceau · Sanssouci Palace
Answer: Sanssouci Palace
'Sanssouci' means 'without a care'.
Q. What is this giant palace-monastery built by Spain's Philip II?
Options: St Basil's Cathedral · Catherine Palace · The Gardens of Versailles · El Escorial
Answer: El Escorial
A palace, a monastery, and the tomb of kings all in one.
Q. What is this Baroque palace in Vienna?
Options: The Globe Theatre · Belvedere Palace · All Saints' Church, Wittenberg · Catherine Palace
Answer: Belvedere Palace
It's where Klimt's 'The Kiss' is kept.
Q. Which palace near London did Henry VIII live in?
Options: The Hall of Mirrors · Hampton Court Palace · The Gardens of Versailles · Sanssouci Palace
Answer: Hampton Court Palace
The red-brick palace of the Tudor dynasty.
Q. What is this domed cathedral rebuilt after the Great Fire of London?
Options: St Paul's Cathedral · The Uffizi Gallery · Catherine Palace · Schönbrunn Palace
Answer: St Paul's Cathedral
The masterpiece of the architect Christopher Wren.
Q. Which fountain in Rome do people toss coins into and make a wish?
Options: The Trevi Fountain · Château de Chenonceau · The Hall of Mirrors · Belvedere Palace
Answer: The Trevi Fountain
Toss a coin if you want to come back to Rome!
Q. What is this gate, the symbol of Berlin?
Options: The Prague Astronomical Clock · The Hall of Mirrors · All Saints' Church, Wittenberg · The Brandenburg Gate
Answer: The Brandenburg Gate
It became the symbol of German reunification.
Q. Which palace in St. Petersburg did the Russian tsars live in?
Options: The Brandenburg Gate · The Amber Room · Château de Chambord · The Winter Palace
Answer: The Winter Palace
Today it's the Hermitage Museum.
Q. What is this Russian palace in sky blue and gold?
Options: Catherine Palace · The Prague Astronomical Clock · All Saints' Church, Wittenberg · Belvedere Palace
Answer: Catherine Palace
The splendid palace with the Amber Room.
Q. What is this room with walls covered in amber?
Options: The Trevi Fountain · The Winter Palace · The Amber Room · The Ponte Vecchio
Answer: The Amber Room
It was called the 'eighth wonder of the world'.
Q. What is this Moscow cathedral with colorful onion domes?
Options: The Rialto Bridge · St Basil's Cathedral · The Gardens of Versailles · The Winter Palace
Answer: St Basil's Cathedral
A symbol of Russia, built by Ivan the Terrible.
Q. Which London theater performed Shakespeare's plays?
Options: St. Peter's Basilica · Schönbrunn Palace · The Globe Theatre · The Hall of Mirrors
Answer: The Globe Theatre
'All the world's a stage' fits it perfectly.
Q. On which church did Luther post his 95 Theses?
Options: The Gardens of Versailles · The Hall of Mirrors · Schönbrunn Palace · All Saints' Church, Wittenberg
Answer: All Saints' Church, Wittenberg
It's where the Reformation began.
Q. What is this clock that has kept running for 600 years?
Options: St. Peter's Basilica · Schönbrunn Palace · The Ponte Vecchio · The Prague Astronomical Clock
Answer: The Prague Astronomical Clock
Every hour on the hour, figures come out and parade.
Q. Which ship did Columbus sail to the Americas?
Options: The Potosí silver mine · The Jolly Roger · Vasco da Gama · The Santa María
Answer: The Santa María
It crossed the Atlantic in 1492.
Q. Who is this explorer who reached the Americas in 1492?
Options: A galleon · The Mayflower · A quill pen · Christopher Columbus
Answer: Christopher Columbus
He set out for India and met a new continent.
Q. Who is this explorer who first led a voyage around the world?
Options: The conquest of Tenochtitlan · Magellan · The Mercator map · The Spanish Armada
Answer: Magellan
He proved the Earth is round.
Q. Who is this explorer who rounded Africa and opened the sea route to India?
Options: A quill pen · Vasco da Gama · The Waldseemüller map · A galleon
Answer: Vasco da Gama
He sailed from Portugal all the way to India.
Q. Which map used the name 'America' for the first time?
Options: Christopher Columbus · The Waldseemüller map · Cacao · The Mayflower
Answer: The Waldseemüller map
America first appears on a map from 1507.
Q. What is this big sailing ship of the Age of Exploration?
Options: A galleon · The Santa María · The Mercator map · The Mayflower
Answer: A galleon
It crossed the oceans loaded with treasure.
Q. What was this splendid Spanish fleet called?
Options: Vasco da Gama · The Spanish Armada · The conquest of Tenochtitlan · The Potosí silver mine
Answer: The Spanish Armada
It ended up defeated in a sea battle with England.
Q. What is this ship of the company created for trade with Asia?
Options: An East India Company merchant ship · Christopher Columbus · Cacao · A quill pen
Answer: An East India Company merchant ship
It was the world's first joint-stock company.
Q. Which ship did the Pilgrims sail to America?
Options: Corn · The Mayflower · The Mercator map · A galleon
Answer: The Mayflower
In 1620 they left to find a new life.
Q. What is this helmet worn by the Spanish conquistadors who went to the Americas?
Options: The conquest of Tenochtitlan · A conquistador's helmet · Cacao · The Mayflower
Answer: A conquistador's helmet
This helmet is called a morion.
Q. What event does this painting of the Aztec capital falling show?
Options: Vasco da Gama · A quill pen · The Santa María · The conquest of Tenochtitlan
Answer: The conquest of Tenochtitlan
Cortés brought down the Aztec Empire.
Q. Which South American mining city was 'a mountain of silver'?
Options: The Potosí silver mine · The Waldseemüller map · A quill pen · Christopher Columbus
Answer: The Potosí silver mine
Silver from here spread all over the world.
Q. What is this flag with a skull on it?
Options: The Jolly Roger · The Spanish Armada · Vasco da Gama · The Mercator map
Answer: The Jolly Roger
The black flag of a pirate ship.
Q. Which crop came to Europe from the Americas?
Options: Magellan · The potato · Christopher Columbus · The Waldseemüller map
Answer: The potato
The Columbian Exchange made it a staple food worldwide.
Q. What is this yellow grain native to the Americas?
Options: Corn · The Mercator map · The Waldseemüller map · Cacao
Answer: Corn
It spread from the New World to the whole world.
Q. What is this fruit that chocolate is made from?
Options: A quill pen · The Mayflower · The Mercator map · Cacao
Answer: Cacao
The Aztecs even used cacao as money.
Q. What is this pen people in old Europe used?
Options: The potato · The Santa María · A quill pen · The conquest of Tenochtitlan
Answer: A quill pen
They sharpened a goose feather to a point and wrote with it.
Q. Who is this monk who began the Reformation?
Options: Louis XIV · Elizabeth I · Martin Luther · Galileo Galilei
Answer: Martin Luther
He changed the world with his 95 Theses.
Q. Who is this French Sun King who said 'I am the state'?
Options: Peter the Great · Isaac Newton · Galileo Galilei · Louis XIV
Answer: Louis XIV
He ruled France for 72 years.
Q. Which English queen defeated the Spanish Armada?
Options: Galileo Galilei · Peter the Great · Isaac Newton · Elizabeth I
Answer: Elizabeth I
She led England's golden age.
Q. Who is this emperor who westernized Russia?
Options: Peter the Great · Copernicus · Isaac Newton · Martin Luther
Answer: Peter the Great
He even learned shipbuilding himself.
Q. Who is this English writer who wrote 'Romeo and Juliet'?
Options: Louis XIV · Shakespeare · Peter the Great · Galileo Galilei
Answer: Shakespeare
The most famous playwright in the world.
Q. Which scientist is famous for 'And yet it moves'?
Options: Copernicus · Galileo Galilei · Isaac Newton · Elizabeth I
Answer: Galileo Galilei
He discovered Jupiter's moons with a telescope.
Q. Which scientist realized gravity after seeing an apple fall?
Options: Galileo Galilei · Peter the Great · Louis XIV · Isaac Newton
Answer: Isaac Newton
He discovered the law of universal gravitation.
Q. Which astronomer argued that the Earth orbits the Sun?
Options: Isaac Newton · Galileo Galilei · Louis XIV · Copernicus
Answer: Copernicus
He overturned a thousand years of common sense.
Q. Which tool did Galileo use to observe the sky?
Options: The Tsar Bell · A microscope · A musket · A telescope
Answer: A telescope
The telescope opened up the secrets of the universe.
Q. Which tool did Leeuwenhoek discover microbes with?
Options: An orrery · A microscope · A pendulum clock · A musket
Answer: A microscope
It opened up a world invisible to the eye.
Q. What is this picture of the universe with the Sun at the center?
Options: Heliocentrism (the Sun-centered model) · The Tsar Bell · A sextant · A pendulum clock
Answer: Heliocentrism (the Sun-centered model)
Copernicus's drawing of the heliocentric model.
Q. What is this machine that shows the planets' movement?
Options: The Tsar Cannon · A musket · An orrery · A harpsichord
Answer: An orrery
Wind it up and the planets go round and round.
Q. Which tool found a ship's position from the height of the stars?
Options: A harpsichord · The Tsar Cannon · A sextant · An orrery
Answer: A sextant
It was an Age of Exploration navigator's must-have.
Q. What is this clock with a swinging weight?
Options: A harpsichord · A microscope · A pendulum clock · A telescope
Answer: A pendulum clock
It was made using Galileo's pendulum principle.
Q. Which keyboard instrument was used before the piano?
Options: The Tsar Bell · A telescope · A microscope · A harpsichord
Answer: A harpsichord
An instrument that plucks strings to make sound.
Q. What is this world-class giant cannon in Moscow?
Options: A microscope · A pendulum clock · The Tsar Cannon · A telescope
Answer: The Tsar Cannon
A giant cannon that was never once fired.
Q. What is this world's largest bell, displayed cracked?
Options: The Tsar Cannon · The Tsar Bell · A telescope · A pendulum clock
Answer: The Tsar Bell
It was so big it never rang once.
Q. What is this early gun that ended the age of knights?
Options: A sextant · Heliocentrism (the Sun-centered model) · A telescope · A musket
Answer: A musket
Gunpowder weapons changed warfare.
Q. Which mosque did Sinan, the Ottoman Empire's greatest architect, build?
Options: Zheng He's treasure ship · The Süleymaniye Mosque · The Kunyu Wanguo Quantu map · The Hall of Supreme Harmony
Answer: The Süleymaniye Mosque
It stands tall on a hill in Istanbul.
Q. Which palace in Istanbul did the Ottoman sultans live in?
Options: The Red Fort · Himeji Castle · Topkapi Palace · Delftware
Answer: Topkapi Palace
A palace full of jewels and treasure.
Q. Which mosque in Istanbul is decorated with blue tiles?
Options: The Temple of Heaven · Kabuki · The Blue Mosque · The Süleymaniye Mosque
Answer: The Blue Mosque
It has six minarets.
Q. What is this white marble tomb an emperor built for his queen?
Options: The Kunyu Wanguo Quantu map · The Taj Mahal · The Summer Palace · The Red Fort
Answer: The Taj Mahal
It's the love story of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
Q. What is this red fortress of the Mughal Empire in Delhi?
Options: The Taj Mahal · Dejima · Osaka Castle · The Red Fort
Answer: The Red Fort
It was built of red sandstone.
Q. What is this ship of the great fleet led by the Ming dynasty's Zheng He?
Options: Delftware · The Kunyu Wanguo Quantu map · Zheng He's treasure ship · Dejima
Answer: Zheng He's treasure ship
He made his great voyages before Columbus.
Q. What is this Ming dynasty pottery with blue patterns?
Options: The Temple of Heaven · Ming blue-and-white porcelain · The Kunyu Wanguo Quantu map · The Potala Palace
Answer: Ming blue-and-white porcelain
Porcelain that European royalty loved.
Q. What is this, the biggest building in the Forbidden City?
Options: The Temple of Heaven · Matsumoto Castle · Topkapi Palace · The Hall of Supreme Harmony
Answer: The Hall of Supreme Harmony
It's where emperors were enthroned.
Q. Where did China's emperors hold rituals to heaven?
Options: Zheng He's treasure ship · Dejima · The Temple of Heaven · The Potala Palace
Answer: The Temple of Heaven
Its round roof stands for the sky.
Q. Which summer palace did the Qing dynasty's Empress Dowager Cixi love?
Options: Himeji Castle · The Blue Mosque · The Süleymaniye Mosque · The Summer Palace
Answer: The Summer Palace
Its man-made lake and long corridor are famous.
Q. What is this high palace in Lhasa, Tibet?
Options: The Temple of Heaven · Matsumoto Castle · The Potala Palace · Himeji Castle
Answer: The Potala Palace
It's the palace where the Dalai Lama lived.
Q. Which white Japanese castle is called the 'white heron castle'?
Options: Matsumoto Castle · Dejima · The Red Fort · Himeji Castle
Answer: Himeji Castle
It's as graceful as a heron.
Q. Which Japanese castle did Toyotomi Hideyoshi build?
Options: Dejima · The Hall of Supreme Harmony · The Kunyu Wanguo Quantu map · Osaka Castle
Answer: Osaka Castle
It has a grand gold-trimmed keep.
Q. Which black Japanese castle is called the 'crow castle'?
Options: Matsumoto Castle · The Summer Palace · Zheng He's treasure ship · The Red Fort
Answer: Matsumoto Castle
Its black walls look like a crow.
Q. Which castle did the shogun build in Kyoto?
Options: Matsumoto Castle · Nijo Castle · Dejima · Kabuki
Answer: Nijo Castle
It has 'nightingale floors' that chirp when you walk.
Q. What is this traditional Japanese theater with elaborate makeup?
Options: Kabuki · Nijo Castle · Matsumoto Castle · The Temple of Heaven
Answer: Kabuki
A performing art carried on since the Edo period.
Q. Which artificial island was Japan's only trading post during its closed-country era?
Options: The Taj Mahal · The Blue Mosque · Dejima · The canals of Amsterdam
Answer: Dejima
A small fan-shaped island.
Q. What is this world map in Chinese characters made by Matteo Ricci?
Options: Himeji Castle · The Kunyu Wanguo Quantu map · Delftware · Ming blue-and-white porcelain
Answer: The Kunyu Wanguo Quantu map
It reached Korea too, widening how people saw the world.
Q. What is this canal city of the Dutch 'Golden Age'?
Options: The canals of Amsterdam · Osaka Castle · The Potala Palace · The Taj Mahal
Answer: The canals of Amsterdam
It was the center of world trade in the 17th century.
Q. What is this Dutch pottery with blue pictures?
Options: The Taj Mahal · The Red Fort · Delftware · Zheng He's treasure ship
Answer: Delftware
It was made in imitation of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain.