Whose sinister vision is this? The great British art quiz

A mystery painting from the Wellington Collection, Apsley House. Photograph: English Heritage Photo Library/the Wellington Collection, Apsley House

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 from the Wellington Collection, Apsley House, which was the home of Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington and the hero of Waterloo. The outstanding fine and decorative art on view reflect his taste and times, and celebrate Wellington as a heroic national figure. The house, at Hyde Park Corner, was built in the 1770s by Robert Adam but extensively remodelled in the 1820s by Benjamin Dean Wyatt.

You can see art from the Wellington Collection, Apsley House on Art UK here. Find out more on the Wellington Collection website here.

1. 

   Which artist painted this work?

   1. Salvator Rosa

   2. Agostino Veneziano

   3. Jusepe de Ribera

   4. Henry Fuseli

2. 

   This portrait of the first Duke of Wellington was painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence, but for whom?

   1. George IV

   2. Mrs Harriet Arbuthnot

   3. The British Embassy in Paris

   4. Mrs Marianne Patterson

3. 

   Who painted this work?

   1. Willem Duyster

   2. Pieter de Hooch

   3. Gabriël Metsu

   4. Pieter Codde

4. 

   What is the title of this work?

   1. Landscape With Peasants Building a Windmill

   2. Peasants Firing Bricks

   3. Landscape With a Farm Building

   4. A Lime Kiln With Figures

5. 

   This is Portrait of a Man by Diego Velázquez. Where was the artist born?

   1. Madrid

   2. Cadiz

   3. Seville

   4. Valencia

6. 

   Which saint is the subject of this painting by Sir Anthony van Dyck?

   1. St Elizabeth

   2. St Teresa

   3. St Catherine

   4. St Rosalie

7. 

   An elderly Duke of Wellington gazes at a bust of Napoleon. Who painted this work?

   1. Sir David Wilkie

   2. Sir Thomas Lawrence

   3. Charles Leslie

   4. Benjamin West

8. 

   Which city is portrayed in this painting by Giovanni Paolo Panini?

   1. Madrid

   2. Paris

   3. Rome

   4. Naples

Solutions

1:C - This is a youthful work by Ribera based on an engraving by Agostino Veneziano. Hecate was the ancient Greek goddess of magic, whose retinue included the souls of those who died before their time, particularly children, or who were killed by force. Hence she is here shown picking up children and putting them into a brazier, while the heroic figures in her train also represent those who died prematurely. Image: Hecate: Procession to a Witches’ Sabbath, before 1620, Jusepe de Ribera (1591–1652), English Heritage, the Wellington Collection, Apsley House, 2:D - Marianne Patterson was an American who travelled to England with her husband and sisters in the early 19th century and took society by storm. Marianne was considered the beauty of the family and Wellington fell in love with her. Although they were close friends it’s unlikely they were lovers. Marianne was later widowed and married Wellington’s eldest brother, Richard, Marquess Wellesley. She bequeathed the portrait to the second Duke of Wellington. Image: Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852), first Duke of Wellington, c1815-1816, Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830), English Heritage, the Wellington Collection, Apsley House, 3:A - Duyster’s depiction of elegantly dressed couples in a fashionable room is the earliest of several Dutch pictures in the Wellington Collection that illustrate the close connection between music and love. Born in Amsterdam, Duyster produced mainly portraits in his early career before turning his hand to genre scenes, military guardrooms and social gatherings. He showed a particular talent for depicting textiles, beautifully illustrated in this painting. Image: A Musical Party, c1634, Willem Cornelisz Duyster (c1599-1635), English Heritage, the Wellington Collection, Apsley House, 4:D - Painted by David Teniers the Younger, this is one of the rare examples of paintings of industrial scenery in the 17th century. It shows the preparation of limestone for the kiln in which lime (the chief ingredient of mortar) is produced by calcining the limestone. Teniers was born in Antwerp and became a pupil of his father, David Teniers I. From 1640 he started to combine landscapes with scenes of peasant life. Image: A Lime Kiln With Figures, 17th century, David Teniers II (1610-1690), English Heritage, the Wellington Collection, Apsley House, 5:C - The foremost painter of the Spanish golden age, Velázquez was apprenticed to Francisco Pacheco. He moved to Madrid in 1623 to become court painter to Philip IV. This unknown gentleman was possibly José Nieto, Queen Mariana of Austria’s chamberlain in the 1650s. It is he who appears in the background of the famous Las Meninas painting and although very sketchy there are similarities with the Apsley House portrait. Image: Portrait of a Man (possibly José Nieto, c1635-1645), Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), English Heritage, the Wellington Collection, Apsley House, 6:D - St Rosalie is the patron saint of Palermo in Sicily. Her remains were discovered in 1624 in the hills above Palermo during a plague that swept the city that summer. Van Dyck had travelled to Sicily at the invitation of Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy. He was quarantined in the city and painted six different versions of the painting. Image: Saint Rosalie Crowned with Roses by Two Angels, 1624, Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), English Heritage, the Wellington Collection, Apsley House, 7:C - This was painted, apparently from observation, at a party given by Baroness Burdett-Coutts at her house in Piccadilly. Leslie created a painting of two halves. The Duke is solid and fully finished, and the bust of Napoleon is sketchy and transparent – perhaps a poignant reminder to Wellington of past glories or a comment on his longevity compared to the long dead emperor. Image: The first Duke of Wellington Looking at a Bust of Napoleon, 19th century, Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859), English Heritage, the Wellington Collection, Apsley House, 8:C - This painting shows festivities taking place outside the Spanish embassy in Rome to celebrate the birth of the Infante Luis Antonio Jaime, last son of Philip V, born on 25 July 1727. Panini studied architectural painting and perspective before attending the academy Benedetto Luti in Rome. He is known chiefly for his paintings of Roman ruins and festival scenes. Image: A Festival in the Piazza di Spagna, Rome, 1727, 1727, Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691-1765), English Heritage, the Wellington Collection, Apsley House

Scores

1. 6 and above.

   You passed with flying colours – have a celebratory lockdown cup of tea.

2. 0 and above.

   A valiant effort – but not a great result.

3. 3 and above.

   This quiz definitely wasn't a bust as far as you were concerned.