Art, History and Appreciation

James

Higher Level

Meánscoil San Nioclás

The Art History and Appreciation is a monster of an exam. The questions can essentially be any Irish and European artist from the Stone Age to the modern day and while there are certainly certain movements and artists to focus on, it can definitely feel a bit overwhelming while you are studying it. The decision this year to cut it down to two questions rather than three was a welcome one, especially with the reliability of the gallery question. I answered Q.1 on Stone Age monuments and Q.16 on the difference between visiting a digital gallery over a physical one. I'm really happy with my answers and I think only having two questions to answer allowed me to go much more in depth than I would have been able in a regular year. I considered answering the question on the Baroque movement in art for a while as I had an essay prepared for Rembrandt but decided against it. I felt that an essay on Caravaggio or even Reubens might have better suited the question and I hadnt particularly studied them in the lead up to the exam. Overall Im really happy with how the exam went and that my studied topics came up.