ap art history comparison essay examples

AP Art History Practice Tests

An overview of ap art history exam.

The AP Exam in Art History is a 3-hour test composed of an hour of multiple-choice, followed by a short break, and then 2 hours of free-response. The format is as follows:

SECTION I: MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS. 1 hour.

This section features 80 multiple-choice questions. Some of the questions have images accompanying them, some do not. All of the images on the exam will be in color. You may move freely throughout this section. It is wise to answer those questions that you do know immediately and go back to ponder those that might cause a problem.

There is no penalty for guessing! Every answer should be filled in. Nothing should be left blank. If you are told by the proctor that you only have a few minutes left, bubble in all the remaining answers.

This is extremely important because the multiple-choice questions account for 50 percent of the grade!

SECTION II: FREE-RESPONSE SECTION. 2 hours.

This section is composed of six free-response questions, most associated with illustrations. There are two 30-minute essays and four shorter essays that are timed at 15 minutes apiece.

The two 30-minute essays usually allow students to choose from a wide array of options spanning much of the course. More rarely, they address one or two periods. You are free to move among the essays; they are not individually timed. You can answer them in any order, but make sure you answer all of them. Even if you draw a complete blank, do the best you can to respond.

AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Tests

• AP Art History Practice Test 1: Prehistoric Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 2: Ancient Near Eastern Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 3: Egyptian Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 4: Greek Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 5: Etruscan Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 6: Roman Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 7: Late Antique Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 8: Byzantine Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 9: Islamic Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 10: Early Medieval Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 11: Romanesque Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 12: Gothic Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 13: Gothic Art in Italy
• AP Art History Practice Test 14: Renaissance in Northern Europe
• AP Art History Practice Test 15: Early Renaissance in Italy: Fifteenth Century
• AP Art History Practice Test 16: High Renaissance and Mannerism
• AP Art History Practice Test 17: Baroque Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 18: Art of New Spain: Spanish Colonies in the Americas
• AP Art History Practice Test 19: Rococo and Neoclassicism
• AP Art History Practice Test 20: Romanticism
• AP Art History Practice Test 21: Late-Ninteenth-Century Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 22: Early- and Mid-Twentieth-Century Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 23: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 24: Chinese and Korean Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 25: Japanese Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 26: Art of the Americas
• AP Art History Practice Test 27: African Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 28: Pacific Art
• AP Art History Practice Test 29: Contemporary Art
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 30
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 31
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 32
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 33
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 34
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 35
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 36
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 37
• AP Art History Practice Test 38
• AP Art History Practice Test 39
• AP Art History Practice Test 40
• AP Art History Practice Test 41
• AP Art History Practice Test 42
• AP Art History Practice Test 43
• AP Art History Practice Test 44
• AP Art History Practice Test 45
• AP Art History Practice Test 46
• AP Art History Practice Test 47
• AP Art History Practice Test 48
• AP Art History Practice Test 49
• AP Art History Practice Test 50
• AP Art History Practice Test 1
• AP Art History Practice Test 2
• AP Art History Practice Test 3
• AP Art History Practice Test 4
• AP Art History Practice Test 5
• AP Art History Practice Test 6
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 7
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 8
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 9
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 10
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 11
• AP Art History Multiple-Choice Practice Test 12

AP Art History Free-Response Practice Tests

• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 1: Prehistoric Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 2: Ancient Near Eastern Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 3: Egyptian Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 4: Greek Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 5: Etruscan Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 6: Roman Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 7: Late Antique Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 8: Byzantine Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 9: Islamic Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 10: Early Medieval Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 11: Romanesque Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 12: Gothic Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 13: Gothic Art in Italy
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 14: Renaissance in Northern Europe
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 15: Early Renaissance in Italy: Fifteenth Century
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 16: High Renaissance and Mannerism
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 17: Baroque Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 18: Art of New Spain: Spanish Colonies in the Americas
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 19: Rococo and Neoclassicism
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 20: Romanticism
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 21: Late-Ninteenth-Century Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 22: Early- and Mid-Twentieth-Century Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 23: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 24: Chinese and Korean Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 25: Japanese Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 26: Art of the Americas
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 27: African Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 28: Pacific Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 29: Contemporary Art
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 30
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 31
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 32
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 33
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 34
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 35
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 36
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 37
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 38
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 39
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 40
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 1
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 2
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 3
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 4
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 5
• AP Art History Free-Response Practice Test 6

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Ultimate Guide to the AP Art History Exam

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In 2019, only about 24,476 of the more than five million students taking AP exams took the AP Art History exam. If you’re planning to take the AP Art History exam, whether you’ve taken the class or have self-studied, read on for a breakdown of the test and CollegeVine’s advice for how to best prepare for it.

When is the AP Art History Exam?

The 2020 AP Art History exam takes place on Friday, May 8, at 12 pm. For more information on all of the AP exams and their 2020 test times, check out our blog post 2020 AP Exam Schedule: Everything You Need to Know . 

What Does the AP Art History Exam Cover?

The AP Art History course teaches students the nature of art (its uses, meanings, and production) and societal responses to art throughout history. It seeks to immerse students in rich artistic traditions across cultures dating from prehistory to the present while fostering an in-depth understanding and appreciation of the history of art.

In this class, you can expect to learn “visual, contextual, and comparative analysis applied to a variety of art forms, understanding of individual works and connections between processes and products throughout history.” Although there are no official prerequisites for the coursework, students who have excelled in the humanities, such as literature or history, or in studio art classes, will find that these experiences enrich their perspective as they undertake the studying of art history. 

The AP Art History course was redesigned for the 2015-2016 school year, and while much of the course content remains the same, it is now presented alongside clear learning objectives for the exam. The scope was also narrowed to focus more on conceptual understanding, critical thinking, and analysis skills, with less emphasis placed on knowledge of specific artworks. The course does still require that students become familiar with a set of specific artwork, but this set shrunk from over 500 pieces in the previous curriculum to 250 included in the course redesign. 

The AP Art History course is commonly broken into 10 units. Below is a sequence of the units suggested by the College Board, along with the percentage of questions from each unit that will appear on the multiple-choice section of the AP Art History exam. 

AP Art History Exam Content

The AP Art History exam is one of the longer AP exams, clocking in at three hours. It comprises two sections: one section of multiple-choice questions, the other of free response questions. 

Section 1: Multiple Choice 

1 hour | 80 questions | 50% of score

The first section lasts one hour, is made up of 80 multiple-choice questions, and accounts for 50% of your total score. Of these 80 questions, there are approximately 40 individual questions, some of which are based on a color image of a work of art. The other 40 questions are grouped into eight sets of 3-6 questions, each set based on a different color image. 

Section 2: Free Response 

2 hours | 6 questions | 50% of score

The second section is the free response section, which lasts for two hours, includes six questions, and accounts for the remaining 50% of your total score. This section is divided into two 30-minute essays and four 15-minute essays, which often include images of art as stimuli for the given prompt.

30-Minute Essays: The longer of the free response questions will provide you with 3-5 works of art from the AP Art History course with a unifying idea. They may also call upon you to respond with a choice of artwork of your choosing, either from within or outside of the required course content. 

Question 1: The first 30-minute free response question focuses on comparison, tasking you with comparing select artwork from the course (images provided), and articulating the similarities and differences between the works. 

Question 2: The second long-answer free response question is about visual/contextual analysis, requiring you to analyze the visual and contextual features of a work of art from the AP Art History course (this is the only free response question which will not provide an image of artwork), and respond to a prompt with a thesis supported by evidence.  

Question 3: This question tests visual analysis, and requires you to examine the visual elements of a work of art—image provided—and connect it to a tradition, style, or practice. 

Question 4: The fourth question covers contextual analysis and asks you to evaluate the contextual elements from an image set and explain how context can influence artistic decisions. 

Question 5: This question focuses on attribution. Here, you must attribute a work of art to an artist and justify your assertion using visual evidence. 

Question 6: The final free response question spotlights continuity and change. You’ll need to identify the relationships—including artistic tradition, style, and/or practice—between works of art. 

AP Art History Score Distribution, Average Score, and Passing Rate

The AP Art History exam is a tough one to master, though many students pass it with average scores. In 2019, 63.1% of students who took the AP Art History received a score of 3 or higher. Of these, only 11.9% of students received the top score of 5, with another 24.6% scoring a 4. If you’re curious about other score distributions, see our post Easiest and Hardest AP Exams .

Keep in mind, credit and advanced standing based on AP scores varies widely from school to school. Though a score of 3 is typically considered passing, it is not always enough to receive credit. Regulations regarding which APs qualify for course credits or advanced placement at specific colleges and universities can be found on the College Board website . 

A full course description that can help to guide your studying and understanding of the knowledge required for the exam can be found in the College Board’s course description .

Read on for tips for preparing for the exam.

Best Ways to Study for the AP Art History Exam

Step 1: assess your skills.

Take a practice test to assess your initial knowledge of the material. Although the College Board AP Art History website provides a number of sample test questions and exam tips, it does not provide a complete sample test. However, practice tests are readily available in commercial study guides such as Barron’s AP Art History, 3rd Edition . Varsity Tutors also offers a handful of free diagnostic tests for AP Art History . You can also find an older version of test questions from the College Board’s 2011 exam or image-based questions from the 2013 exam to get a general idea of the test’s structure and content.

Step 2: Study the Material

The content and curriculum of the AP Art History course are based on three sets of big ideas and essential questions. These overarching concepts are intended to encourage critical thinking, analysis, and appreciation of art throughout time and place, and to foster your understanding of the field of art history. The big ideas and their associated essential questions are:   

• Big Idea 1: Artists manipulate materials and ideas to create an aesthetic object, act, or event. Essential Question: What is art and how is it made?
• Big Idea 2: Art making is shaped by tradition and change. Essential Question: Why and how does art change?
• Big Idea 3: Interpretations of art are variable. Essential Question: How do we describe our thinking about art?

Through the exploration of big ideas and answering essential questions, you should develop a foundational set of art historical thinking skills. Below are eight distinct art history skills you’ll develop in the AP Art History course and the percentage of the multiple-choice section of the AP Art History exam you can expect them to represent. 

In addition to these specific art history thinking skills, you will also need to be familiar with the official AP Art History image set which contains “250 works of art categorized by geographic and chronological designations, beginning with works from global prehistory and ending with global contemporary works.” These works are found in the College Board AP Art History Course Description .   

The College Board refers students to Khan Academy’s comprehensive AP Art History Study Guide . This website has a wealth of free material for effectively and efficiently learning what you’ll need to know for the exam. The College Board also provides a series of useful videos on the AP Art History teacher site that give an overview of the curricular framework, exam format, and writing tips.

There are also a number of free study resources available online. Many AP teachers have posted complete study guides, review sheets, and test questions—for example, this website from Valerie White , a ceramics teacher. Be careful when accessing these, as many will be from previous versions of the exam.

Finally, another convenient way to study is to use one of the recently-developed apps for AP exams. These can make studying on-the-go a lot easier. Make sure you read reviews before choosing one—their quality varies widely. Here’s an AP Art History app from Varsity Tutors that currently has 4.2 stars.

Step 3: Practice Multiple-Choice Questions

Once you have your theory down, test it out by practicing multiple-choice questions. You can find these in most study guides or through online searches. You could also try taking the multiple-choice section of another practice exam.

The College Board Course Description includes many practice multiple-choice questions along with explanations of their answers. There are additional questions available in commercial study guides. As you go through these, try to keep track of which areas are still tripping you up, and go back over this theory again. Focus on understanding what each question is asking and keep a running list of any vocabulary that is still unfamiliar.

Step 4: Practice Free Response Questions

All free response questions on the AP Art History exam include either images of works of art (from the required course content, except in the case of attribution questions) or a list of works from the required course content to prompt student responses. For questions that ask you to identify a piece of work, you should try to include all available identifiers including title or designation, name of the artist and/or culture of origin, date of creation, and materials. You should be able to provide at least two correct identifiers, but you will not be penalized for any additional identifiers that are incorrect. 

On the free response section of the AP Art History exam, a distinct emphasis is placed on the strength of your writing. To be successful, you will need to use clear, appropriate, and descriptive language. Your ideas should be organized logically with coherent evidence to support your assertions. You will need to make fact-based inferences and closely align your writing with the prompt’s directives.

As you complete the free response questions, make sure to keep an eye on the time. Though you will be reminded of the time remaining by the exam proctor, you will not be forced to move on to another question. Make sure you stay on track to address each section of every question. No points can be awarded for answers left completely blank when time runs out.

A fantastic way to prepare for the free response questions on the AP Art History exam is to practice with them. The College Board has the free response questions from the 2019 , 2018 , 2017 , and 2016 exams posted on its website. Another helpful resource when preparing for the AP Art History exam is also found on the College Board website— this presentation from Heather Madar of Humboldt State University provides a small sampling of the free response questions, along with insight into how students performed and the places they struggled.

Step 5: Take Another Practice Test

As you did at the very beginning of your studying, take a practice test to evaluate your progress. You should see a steady progression of knowledge, and it’s likely that you will see patterns identifying which areas have improved the most and which areas still need improvement. If you have time, repeat each of the steps above to incrementally increase your score.

Step 6: Exam day specifics

If you’re taking the AP course associated with this exam, your teacher will walk you through how to register. If you’re self-studying, check out our blog post How to Self-Register for AP Exams .

For information about what to bring to the exam, see our post What Should I Bring to My AP Exam (And What Should I Definitely Leave at Home)?

Wondering what your odds of acceptance are to your dream school? Using your GPA, standardized test scores, extracurricular activities, and other data points, our chancing engine lets you know your chances of acceptance to over 500 colleges in the U.S. You can also see how you stack up against other applicants, and learn how to improve your profile. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account to start using our chancing engine today!

Looking for more great information about AP exams? Check out these other posts from CollegeVine: 

2020 AP Exam Schedule

How Long is Each AP Exam?

Easiest and Hardest AP Exams

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Art History Analysis – Formal Analysis and Stylistic Analysis

Typically in an art history class the main essay students will need to write for a final paper or for an exam is a formal or stylistic analysis.

A formal analysis is just what it sounds like – you need to analyze the form of the artwork. This includes the individual design elements – composition, color, line, texture, scale, contrast, etc. Questions to consider in a formal analysis is how do all these elements come together to create this work of art? Think of formal analysis in relation to literature – authors give descriptions of characters or places through the written word. How does an artist convey this same information?

Organize your information and focus on each feature before moving onto the text – it is not ideal to discuss color and jump from line to then in the conclusion discuss color again. First summarize the overall appearance of the work of art – is this a painting? Does the artist use only dark colors? Why heavy brushstrokes? etc and then discuss details of the object – this specific animal is gray, the sky is missing a moon, etc. Again, it is best to be organized and focused in your writing – if you discuss the animals and then the individuals and go back to the animals you run the risk of making your writing unorganized and hard to read. It is also ideal to discuss the focal of the piece – what is in the center? What stands out the most in the piece or takes up most of the composition?

A stylistic approach can be described as an indicator of unique characteristics that analyzes and uses the formal elements (2-D: Line, color, value, shape and 3-D all of those and mass).The point of style is to see all the commonalities in a person’s works, such as the use of paint and brush strokes in Van Gogh’s work. Style can distinguish an artist’s work from others and within their own timeline, geographical regions, etc.

Methods & Theories To Consider:

Expressionism

Instructuralism

Postmodernism

Social Art History

Biographical Approach

Poststructuralism

Museum Studies

Visual Cultural Studies

Stylistic Analysis Example:

The following is a brief stylistic analysis of two Greek statues, an example of how style has changed because of the “essence of the age.” Over the years, sculptures of women started off as being plain and fully clothed with no distinct features, to the beautiful Venus/Aphrodite figures most people recognize today. In the mid-seventh century to the early fifth, life-sized standing marble statues of young women, often elaborately dress in gaily painted garments were created known as korai. The earliest korai is a Naxian women to Artemis. The statue wears a tight-fitted, belted peplos, giving the body a very plain look. The earliest korai wore the simpler Dorian peplos, which was a heavy woolen garment. From about 530, most wear a thinner, more elaborate, and brightly painted Ionic linen and himation. A largely contrasting Greek statue to the korai is the Venus de Milo. The Venus from head to toe is six feet seven inches tall. Her hips suggest that she has had several children. Though her body shows to be heavy, she still seems to almost be weightless. Viewing the Venus de Milo, she changes from side to side. From her right side she seems almost like a pillar and her leg bears most of the weight. She seems be firmly planted into the earth, and since she is looking at the left, her big features such as her waist define her. The Venus de Milo had a band around her right bicep. She had earrings that were brutally stolen, ripping her ears away. Venus was noted for loving necklaces, so it is very possibly she would have had one. It is also possible she had a tiara and bracelets. Venus was normally defined as “golden,” so her hair would have been painted. Two statues in the same region, have throughout history, changed in their style.

Compare and Contrast Essay

Most introductory art history classes will ask students to write a compare and contrast essay about two pieces – examples include comparing and contrasting a medieval to a renaissance painting. It is always best to start with smaller comparisons between the two works of art such as the medium of the piece. Then the comparison can include attention to detail so use of color, subject matter, or iconography. Do the same for contrasting the two pieces – start small. After the foundation is set move on to the analysis and what these comparisons or contrasting material mean – ‘what is the bigger picture here?’ Consider why one artist would wish to show the same subject matter in a different way, how, when, etc are all questions to ask in the compare and contrast essay. If during an exam it would be best to quickly outline the points to make before tackling writing the essay.

Compare and Contrast Example:

Stele of Hammurabi from Susa (modern Shush, Iran), ca. 1792 – 1750 BCE, Basalt, height of stele approx. 7’ height of relief 28’

Stele, relief sculpture, Art as propaganda – Hammurabi shows that his law code is approved by the gods, depiction of land in background, Hammurabi on the same place of importance as the god, etc.

Top of this stele shows the relief image of Hammurabi receiving the law code from Shamash, god of justice, Code of Babylonian social law, only two figures shown, different area and time period, etc.

Stele of Naram-sin , Sippar Found at Susa c. 2220 - 2184 bce. Limestone, height 6'6"

Stele, relief sculpture, Example of propaganda because the ruler (like the Stele of Hammurabi) shows his power through divine authority, Naramsin is the main character due to his large size, depiction of land in background, etc.

Akkadian art, made of limestone, the stele commemorates a victory of Naramsin, multiple figures are shown specifically soldiers, different area and time period, etc.

Iconography

Regardless of what essay approach you take in class it is absolutely necessary to understand how to analyze the iconography of a work of art and to incorporate into your paper. Iconography is defined as subject matter, what the image means. For example, why do things such as a small dog in a painting in early Northern Renaissance paintings represent sexuality? Additionally, how can an individual perhaps identify these motifs that keep coming up?

The following is a list of symbols and their meaning in Marriage a la Mode by William Hogarth (1743) that is a series of six paintings that show the story of marriage in Hogarth’s eyes.

• Man has pockets turned out symbolizing he has lost money and was recently in a fight by the state of his clothes.
• Lap dog shows loyalty but sniffs at woman’s hat in the husband’s pocket showing sexual exploits.
• Black dot on husband’s neck believed to be symbol of syphilis.
• Mantel full of ugly Chinese porcelain statues symbolizing that the couple has no class.
• Butler had to go pay bills, you can tell this by the distasteful look on his face and that his pockets are stuffed with bills and papers.
• Card game just finished up, women has directions to game under foot, shows her easily cheating nature.
• Paintings of saints line a wall of the background room, isolated from the living, shows the couple’s complete disregard to faith and religion.
• The dangers of sexual excess are underscored in the Hograth by placing Cupid among ruins, foreshadowing the inevitable ruin of the marriage.
• Eventually the series (other five paintings) shows that the woman has an affair, the men duel and die, the woman hangs herself and the father takes her ring off her finger symbolizing the one thing he could salvage from the marriage.