PrepTest 154, Section 2, Question 24
Until recently, experts have been unable to identify(81 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(6 more words not shown)
- AThe painting of(22 more words not shown)
- BMost of the(14 more words not shown)
- CIt was not(16 more words not shown)
- DIt would have(22 more words not shown)
- EThe historic battle(23 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Being in a painting doesn't mean you painted it.
At first, all we know is that the self-portrait and battle scene were made in the same year. That isn't enough to identify their creator.
We might look for a shared signature, materials, or other evidence connecting the works. Instead, the argument points to a resemblance between a figure in the battle and the young artist in the self-portrait.
Even if that figure really is the artist, someone else could have painted him. Maybe a friend included him. Maybe he was recognizable enough that another painter wanted to depict him. Or perhaps the resemblance is coincidence and it's a different person altogether. These possibilities leave room for another painter despite the visual similarity.
What we’re looking for
For a weakener, I'd look for evidence against the leap from the figure's identity to authorship. The conclusion only says the same artist probably made both works, so we don't need to make that impossible. We need to give the resemblance less force as evidence that he painted the battle scene.
Working the answers
- A
Other figures appearing roughly the same age doesn't establish that any of them were artists or that one painted this scene. We'd have to add those possibilities ourselves. Age alone doesn't challenge the proposed identification of the painter in a useful, specific way.
- B
This initially looks helpful: if many figures resemble real people, perhaps the young artist is simply another person depicted. But the fact that most subjects resemble historical figures doesn't explain who painted them. The proposed artist could still have painted those people and included himself. B doesn't give a particular reason to doubt that account.
- C
This also suggests a possible alternative: maybe the young artist was a model for someone else. But the answer only tells us live models were commonly used. It doesn't connect that practice to this figure or show that someone other than the proposed artist painted the scene. I'd keep it in mind, but look for a more direct challenge.
- DCorrect
Now there's a specific reason to doubt that this young artist would have put himself into this scene: placing himself among the aristocrats would have violated etiquette. The argument's explanation requires him to have done something this norm discouraged.
Could he have broken etiquette? Certainly. That was my initial hesitation with this answer, but weakening doesn't require a guarantee. Compared with B's historical subjects and C's general use of models, D more directly makes the proposed artist's authorship less likely given this particular figure in this particular scene.
- E
An artist can paint a battle that happened before he was born. The argument dates the creation of the paintings to the same year; it doesn't claim the artist personally witnessed the historical event. An earlier battle therefore doesn't rule him out as the later painter.
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