people walking around the information desk at the smithsonian natural history museum

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Quiz: Museums Around the World

Test your knowledge of galleries, exhibits, famous works of art and more

Kimberly Ferrante,

AARP

En español

Published February 24, 2023

9 Questions

Quiz: Museums Around the World

[ {
  "question" : "Which museum is actually a collection of 21 museums and galleries and includes a zoo?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Getty Center, Los Angeles",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. ",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Merritt Island, Florida",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., is the world’s largest collection of research facilities and museums. The collections consist of more than 157 million objects and specimens, so plan to see only a few exhibits at a couple of museums in one day. There is something for everyone, from Dorothy’s iconic ruby red slippers from \"The Wizard of Oz\" at the National Museum of American History to the Cadillac owned by Chuck Berry at the National Museum of African American History & Culture.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "True or false: \"The Portrait of Lisa Gherardini,\" \"Wife of Francesco del Giocondo,\" known as the \"Mona Lisa,\" by Leonardo da Vinci, has always been housed at the Louvre in France. ",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "True",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "False",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Leonardo commenced the Mona Lisa in 1503 in Italy, but in 1516, King Francis I invited da Vinci to France, where it is believed he continued to work on the painting, and where he died in 1519. The king acquired the painting after Leonardo’s death. After a brief stint in Napoleon’s bedroom, the Mona Lisa moved to the Louvre in Paris in 1804. ",
  "hint" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "In which world-renowned museum can you see the archaeological excavation of the site through transparent glass floors?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Istanbul Archaeological Museums, Turkey",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Naples National Archaeological Museum, Italy",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, Lintong District, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "This is one gallery where you want to look at your feet while you walk: The glass floors in the Acropolis Museum allow visitors to view the underlying excavated area. The unique design was created as a way to connect visitors to the ancient Athenian landscape. “The Gallery of the Acropolis Slopes” follows the path of an ancient civilization, as the inhabitants would have walked up to Acropolis Rock.  ",
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}, {
  "question" : "Which of the following is the world’s first national museum that was free to the public?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Prado Museum, Madrid",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "The Met, New York ",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "The British Museum, London",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The British Museum in London was created by an act of Parliament in 1753. Originally, visitors had to apply for tickets, and entry was reserved for the elite, but it was made more accessible after the 1830s. Today, the museum welcomes about 4 million visitors a year. Among its holdings is an impressive collection of Egyptian antiquities, including the Rosetta Stone, carved in 196 B.C.",
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}, {
  "question" : "Which of the following museums boasts the largest collection of works by renowned Spanish artist Francisco Goya?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Prado Museum, Madrid",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Museum of Fine Arts of Seville, Seville, Spain",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The Prado has 620 drawings by Goya, the largest known collection of the artist in the world. The museum also boasts 152 paintings by Goya plus etchings and other works of art. The museum opened in 1819 and continues to celebrate Spanish artists; it draws more than 3 million visitors a year. ",
  "hint" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "Which museum is considered the largest in the Western Hemisphere?\n",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York ",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Museum of Fine Arts, Boston",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The Met has the largest square footage of any museum in the New World. John Jay II, president of the Union League Club of New York City, conceived the Met in 1866. In 1870, the Met was incorporated, and in November of that same year, the museum acquired its first object, a Roman sarcophagus. Another must-see: the engraving Adam and Eve by Albrecht Dürer.",
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  "hintLink" : "",
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}, {
  "question" : "True or false: Vatican City is home to one of the world’s largest museums, the Vatican Museums.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "True",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "False",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The extensive art and architecture collection of Vatican City is all out of proportion to the number of city residents (about 600). The city is home to 26 galleries, also known as the Vatican Museums, that house more than 70,000 works of art; about 20,000 works are on display to the public. Interesting fact: The first collection started in 1506 with Pope Julius II. In 1508, he commissioned Michelangelo to update the Sistine Chapel.",
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}, {
  "question" : "True or false: The word uffizi in the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Italy, translates to “bridge,” its original purpose of joining two banks of the Arno River.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "True",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "False",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Uffizi in Italian translates to “offices.” Commissioned by Cosimo I de’ Medici, the Uffizi Gallery was originally designed as an administrative headquarters for Florence’s tribunals, guilds, corporations and courts. It was opened to the public as a museum in 1769 and today holds the world’s finest collection of Renaissance paintings. Works by artists such as Giotto, Leonardo and Michelangelo, with one of the main attractions being The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, are featured there. ",
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}, {
  "question" : "Which museum restored a famous work of art in 2021 using artificial intelligence? ",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "The Louvre, Paris",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Tate Modern, London ",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "The National Gallery, London",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Artist Rembrandt van Rijn’s The Night Watch is considered one of the most important works of the Dutch Golden Age. Three hundred years after the painting was cut on all four sides during a move, the museum restored the painting back to its original size of roughly 13 feet by 17 feet with the help of computer imaging. Other famous Dutch artists including Van Gogh are also on display at the museum.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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Kimberly Ferrante is an award-winning journalist based in Plano, Texas. Her work has appeared in Road Trip, Island Soul, Explore the Northshore and The Lens.