Renaissance art expert Professor Williams was examining a private collection when she noticed a small painting that exhibited all the...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Renaissance art expert Professor Williams was examining a private collection when she noticed a small painting that exhibited all the hallmarks of Leonardo da Vinci's technique. However, this work didn't appear in any known catalog of da Vinci's paintings. Williams immediately began researching the painting's provenance by examining historical documents, estate records, and correspondence from the 16th century. Her research approach indicates that Williams assumed the painting ______
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
was an authentic da Vinci work that had been lost to historical record-keeping.
had been deliberately excluded from official catalogs due to controversial subject matter.
was created by a different Renaissance artist working in da Vinci's style.
represented a modern forgery designed to mimic da Vinci's artistic techniques.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Renaissance art expert Professor Williams was examining a private collection when she noticed a small painting that exhibited all the hallmarks of Leonardo da Vinci's technique." |
|
| "However, this work didn't appear in any known catalog of da Vinci's paintings." |
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| "Williams immediately began researching the painting's provenance by examining historical documents, estate records, and correspondence from the 16th century." |
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Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Professor Williams's decision to research 16th-century provenance documents reveals her assumption about the painting's authenticity.
Argument Flow: We learn about Williams's expertise and her discovery of a da Vinci-style painting. The tension arises because it's not catalogued anywhere. Her specific research approach—focusing on historical provenance from da Vinci's era—provides the key clue to what she assumed about the painting.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The key evidence is Williams's research method—she's examining historical documents, estate records, and correspondence from the 16th century
- This is significant because the 16th century is da Vinci's time period and she's researching provenance (ownership history)
- If she thought the painting was fake or by someone else, why would she need to trace 16th-century ownership records?
- She would instead focus on identifying the real artist or exposing the forgery
- So the right answer should show that Williams believed the painting was a genuine da Vinci that had somehow been overlooked by art historians
was an authentic da Vinci work that had been lost to historical record-keeping.
- This perfectly matches Williams's research approach
- If she believed it was authentic but missing from catalogs, researching 16th-century provenance makes total sense
- An expert would want to trace the ownership history to fill in the historical gap
had been deliberately excluded from official catalogs due to controversial subject matter.
- While this could theoretically explain why it's not catalogued, Williams's research approach doesn't support this
- If she suspected controversial exclusion, she'd likely research the reasons for exclusion, not just general provenance
was created by a different Renaissance artist working in da Vinci's style.
- If she thought it was by a different artist, she wouldn't need to research 16th-century da Vinci provenance
- She'd instead try to identify the actual artist or compare techniques
represented a modern forgery designed to mimic da Vinci's artistic techniques.
- Modern forgery research would focus on materials, techniques, and recent creation evidence
- Researching 16th-century documents would be pointless for exposing a modern fake