John Constable rejected his teacher Henry Fuseli’s contempt for the Dutch school of this genre, admiring and frequently copying its master Jacob van Ruisdael. For 10 points each:
[10e] Name this genre of painting whose “Nordic” form tends to highlight serious aspects of the natural world, like storms and mountains, rather than the bright light and natural beauty of its “Italianate” form.
ANSWER: landscapes
[10e] Name this island whose namesake “War of the Vespers” saw Charles I of Anjou deposed, overthrowing Angevin rule on this large island off the coast of Italy.
ANSWER: Sicily [or Sicilia; accept War of the Sicilian Vespers]
[10h] This landscape by Ruisdael held in Detroit contrasts a tree fallen over a river in the foreground with a crumbling structure and a rainbow in the background. It depicts a scene from Ruisdael’s visit to Beth Haim.
ANSWER: The Jewish Cemetery [or Het Joodse kerkhof or De Joodse begraafplaats]
[10m] Peter III of this kingdom defeated Charles of Anjou in the War of the Vespers and took rule of Sicily, but it was split again between his sons Alfonso III and James II after his death.
ANSWER: Kingdom of Aragon [or Crown of Aragon; or Reino d’Aragón or Reino de Aragón; or Regne d’Aragó; or Regnum Aragonum]
[10m] This contemporary of Ruisdael painted his hometown in The Little Street. This artist also painted a cityscape in which a church’s empty bell tower is visible on the opposite bank of a river.
ANSWER: Jan Vermeer [or Johannes Vermeer] (The cityscape is View of Delft.)
[10h] This Sicilian commune was, in ancient times, the Sicanian town of Triocala. The “Peace” signed in this comune in Agrigento ended the War of the Vespers.
ANSWER: Caltabellotta [or Cataviḍḍotta]
<JC, Painting/Sculpture/Photography>