PrepTest 109, Section 3, Question 6
The recent cleaning of frescoes in the Sistine(50 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(11 more words not shown)
- AThe appropriateness of(20 more words not shown)
- BThe restoration of(21 more words not shown)
- CThe colors of(11 more words not shown)
- DArt historians are(9 more words not shown)
- EInterpretations of an(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Do the colors matter to the interpretation?
I can understand why cleaning an old painting raises questions. Perhaps colors have changed over time; perhaps the restoration itself affects what we see. The passage gives us the important point without requiring us to settle the exact cause: the colors art historians have studied may differ from the original ones.
Then the historians move from colors to interpretations. That is where I want a connection. Suppose an interpretation concerns the figures depicted—an angel, for example—rather than the particular shades used to paint them. A difference in color wouldn't automatically defeat that reading. On the other hand, an interpretation built around the artist's use of red rather than blue might depend heavily on getting the colors right.
What we’re looking for
We're asked for a principle that supports the historians' reasoning. I'd look for the missing connection: color is relevant to an appropriate interpretation. That would explain why discovering a possible difference in color could give historians a reason to reconsider an earlier reading.
Working the answers
- A
This ties an interpretation to the historical period in which someone makes it. The evidence here concerns the artwork's colors. We need a reason that those colors matter to interpreting the work; A doesn't supply one. It also doesn't tell us that the relevant historical context changed between the earlier interpretation and the restoration.
- B
This could explain a way restoration changes an artwork's colors. But even if the restored colors differ from what the artist intended, why does that affect the interpretation? B leaves our question unanswered. It develops the color side of the argument without connecting colors to the conclusion about how to understand the work.
- CCorrect
Color matters to an appropriate interpretation. Now discovering that the colors may not be the original ones gives the historians a reason to question readings based on what they previously saw.
C doesn't say every interpretation must change whenever a color changes. It doesn't need to: the conclusion only says the earlier interpretations may no longer be appropriate. Making color relevant supports that possibility.
- D
Being good judges of an artwork's value doesn't establish that this particular inference is sound. Value and interpretation are also different questions: whether a work is valuable isn't the same as how its imagery or colors should be understood. D gives no connection between the possible color difference and the need to reconsider a reading.
- E
We don't know when the interpretations at issue originated. “Before the restoration” could refer to a recent reading or a very old one. E supplies a rule about interpretations from the time of creation without establishing that these interpretations fit it. It also doesn't explain why the color discovery would undermine them.
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