Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the author's contention that fifteenth-century Venetian artist...

Boram January 9, 2019

Could you explain why (b) incorrect and (c) correct? Thank you!

Ravi January 9, 2019

@Alex and @Boram,

Happy to help. Let's take a look at the question and each of the answer choices.

The question asks us to select an answer that, if true, would most
weaken the author's contention that fifteenth-century Venetian artists
"had no practical experience of the large-scale representation of
familiar religious stories" (lines 40-42).

We're looking for something that weakens the author's belief that the
Venetian artists had no practical training, so we want an answer
choice that makes us think that they had some sort of practical
experience in making large-scale representations. It will first help
us to see the support that the author is using for the conclusion that
Venetian artists had no practical experience of the large-scale
representation of familiar religious stories. The support for this
conclusion is found immediately before in lines 37 through 39, where
the author states, "In Venice, where the damp climate is unsuited to
fresco, narrative frescoes in churches were almost nonexistent."

Now, we have the full argument structure:

P: "In Venice, where the damp climate is unsuited to fresco, narrative
frescoes in churches were almost nonexistent."

C: Venetian artists "had no practical experience of the large-scale
representation of familiar religious stories."

In this argument, the author is assuming that the only way the
Venetian artists could have gotten practical experience is through
making narrative church frescoes in Venice. However, if there were
another way where the Venetian artists could have gained this
practical training, then the author's argument would fall apart.
Answer C gives us exactly what we're looking for, as it says, "Many of
the artists who produced Venetian narrative paintings with religious
subjects served as apprentices in Tuscany, where they had become
familiar with the technique of painting frescoes." If this were true,
it introduces another possibility for how the Venetian artists gained
practical experience of the large-scale representation of religious
stories, so it seriously weakens the author's contention. Answer C is
the correct choice.

Answer A is incorrect because it doesn't matter. So what if the style
of two types of Venetian paintings were similar to one another? With
this answer, there is still no good way for the Venetian artists to
gain practical experience, so the author's contention is not weakened.

Answer B is incorrect because it makes a connection between Venetian
authors and paintings in Tuscany, but it does not give any new
information about Venetian artists. Additionally, the Tuscan art
described is secular (not religious), so this has nothing to do with
how Venetian artists could have gained practical experience for
large-scale religious stories.

Answer D is incorrect because this answer choice only tells us about
Tuscan paintings, but it has nothing to do with Venetian painters, so
it can't weaken the author's contention.

Answer E is incorrect because it brings in something completely new
(enhanced drawing skill) that does absolutely nothing in helping to
explain how Venetian artists could have gained practical experience in
large-scale representation of familiar religious stories.

Does this help? Let us know if you have any more questions!