Classical World: Ancient Rome is one of 9 topics in the Grade 10 Visual Arts CAPS syllabus, covered across 3 lessons on Study Vault. Below are real practice questions from this topic with full worked answers.
Sample practice questions
Easy
1. What is verism in Roman portrait sculpture?
A style depicting sitters with unflinching, almost exaggerated realism, including wrinkles and signs of age
A style idealising sitters as flawless and eternally youthful
A purely abstract, non-figurative sculptural style
A style used exclusively for depicting gods, never ordinary people
Answer: A style depicting sitters with unflinching, almost exaggerated realism, including wrinkles and signs of age — Verism is a Republican-era Roman portrait sculpture style depicting sitters with unflinching, almost exaggerated realism, including wrinkles, sagging skin and other visible signs of age.
Easy
2. What Latin word is verism derived from?
Truth
Youth
Beauty
Wisdom (as a direct translation)
Answer: Truth — Verism comes from the Latin word for "truth," reflecting the style's unflinching, honest depiction of a sitter's actual appearance.
Medium
3. Name the wax death masks kept by wealthy Roman families, used in family religious rituals and funeral processions, thought to be connected to the veristic sculptural style.
Answer: imagines — Wealthy Roman families kept wax death masks called imagines, used in family rituals and funeral processions, thought to be connected to the development of the veristic sculptural style.
