Which world-famous writer is this? Take the great British art quiz

Lost in Reverie, 1894, Douglas John Connah (1871–1941). Photograph: National Trust, Greenway

This quiz is brought to you in collaboration with Art UK, the online home for the UK’s public art collections, showing art from more than 3,000 venues and by 45,000 artists. Each day, a different collection on Art UK will set the questions.

Today, our questions are set by the National Trust, which looks after one of the world’s largest and most significant holdings of fine art and heritage objects – a treasure chest of history. The organisation conserves a huge range of heritage locations with buildings, contents, gardens and settings intact, and provides extensive public access.

You can see art from the National Trust on Art UK here. Find out more on the National Trust website here.

1. 

   Which famous writer, whose holiday home is one of the places in the care of the National Trust, is pictured here (along with her doll Rosie)?

   1. Daphne du Maurier

   2. Enid Blyton

   3. Virginia Woolf

   4. Agatha Christie

2. 

   This picture was the first painting acquired by the National Trust, at a time when it did not own buildings with collections. What event at which location does it depict?

   1. May Day, Sizergh Castle

   2. The Dyrham Revels

   3. Grasmere rushbearing

   4. Claremont fete at Claremont Landscape Garden

3. 

   Which Bright Young Thing painted this illusionistic view of Dorneywood Garden in Buckinghamshire?

   1. Rex Whistler

   2. Cecil Beaton

   3. Charles Ryder

   4. Oliver Messel

4. 

   A scene from which story in classical mythology is shown in this gilt-bronze plaquette after Paulus van Vianen at Kingston Lacy?

   1. Diana and Actaeon

   2. Cupid and Psyche

   3. Venus and Adonis

   4. Apollo and Daphne

5. 

   The pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones was deeply influenced by poetry and literature. What is the name of the poet whose work inspired this painting?

   1. John Keats

   2. Sylvia Plath

   3. Elizabeth Barrett Browning

   4. Robert Browning

6. 

   To which British satirist and historian, author of The French Revolution, do these hands belong?

   1. Edgar Allan Poe

   2. Lewis Carroll

   3. Thomas Carlyle

   4. George Bernard Shaw

7. 

   With which 16th-century queen did this Elizabethan lady create embroidery?

   1. Mary Queen of Scots

   2. Lady Jane Grey

   3. Mary Tudor

   4. Elizabeth I

8. 

   Which National Trust house made famous by a BBC costume drama is depicted in this early 18th century view?

   1. Basildon Park

   2. Sudbury Hall

   3. Lyme Park

   4. Donwell Abbey

Solutions

1:D - Agatha Christie's father, Frederick Alvah Miller, was American, and the New York-born portraitist, Douglas John Connah, was a friend or possibly even a relation of the family. This is thought to be the work exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1894 under the title Lost in Reverie. Image: Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller (1890–1976), later Agatha Christie, aged four, Lost in Reverie, 1894, Douglas John Connah (1871–1941), National Trust, Greenway, 2:C - Rushbearing festivals started when medieval parish churches still had earthen floors covered in rushes. The custom died out when flagstones were introduced but was revived in the 19th century in many English villages. It takes place in Grasmere on or near to St Oswald’s Day (5 August). Image: The Grasmere Rushbearing, 1905, Frank Bramley (1857–1915), National Trust, Lake District, 3:A - Rex Whistler’s decorative panel was painted for Sir Courtauld Thomson (1865-1954) to separate the front door and the hall of his house at Dorneywood. The full panel depicts an allegorical scene of the goddess Flora holding the hand of a frightened little Cupid, coming into the house from the garden. Although the garden is an imagined one, the walled croquet lawn is indeed part of Dorneywood Garden and is still in use today. Image: Ave Silvae Dornii, 1928, Rex Whistler (1905–1944), National Trust, Dorneywood, 4:D - Cupid is shown shooting arrows. One, made of gold, hits Apollo, who is consequently smitten with Daphne; the other, of lead, pierces Daphne and fills her with hate for Apollo. In order to escape Apollo’s relentless advances Daphne persuades her river-god father, Peneus, to transform her into a laurel tree. Image: Apollo Pursuing Daphne Transforming into a Laurel, early 17th century, after Paulus Willemsz van Vianen (1570–1613), National Trust, Kingston Lacy, 5:D - Love Among the Ruins by Edward Burne-Jones at Wightwick Manor is a pre-Raphaelite painting inspired by Robert Browning’s 1855 poetic meditation of the same name on the transient nature of human power, wealth and glory, and the endurance of love. Image: Love Among the Ruins, 1894, Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898), National Trust, Wightwick Manor, 6:C - This cast by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm comes from a statue of Thomas Carlyle, who was a British historian, satirical writer, essayist, translator, philosopher, mathematician and teacher. Image: Hands of Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881), c1874, Joseph Edgar Boehm (1834–1890), National Trust, Carlyle’s House, 7:A - Elizabeth "Bess" of Hardwick’s fourth husband, George Talbot – sixth Earl of Shrewsbury – was "keeper" of Mary Queen of Scots from 1568 until 1584. During her imprisonment with Shrewsbury, Bess and the Queen became friends, and together they embroidered the wonderful Marian embroideries, which are currently at Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk. Image: Elizabeth Hardwick (1520–1608), Countess of Shrewsbury, "Bess of Hardwick", 16th century, follower of Hans Eworth (c1520–after 1578), National Trust, Hardwick Hall, 8:C - Lyme Park famously appeared as the location for Pemberley in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, including the memorable scene where Elizabeth Bennet encounters Darcy emerging fully clothed from the lake. Lacock Abbey and village, which are also cared for by the Trust, featured in this adaptation. Image: View of Lyme Hall from the north, early 18th century, British (English) School, National Trust, Lyme Park

Scores

1. 6 and above.

   Fantastic stuff – what you don't know about stately homes isn't worth knowing.

2. 0 and above.

   It's a while since any of us got to any National Trust properties. But even so, this is pretty bad.

3. 3 and above.

   A fair enough result – after all, none of us have been to a National Trust site for a while