Older or Newer?
Two paintings sit side by side. Was the one on the right made earlier or later than the one on the left? Work from what the picture shows you — the subject, the brushwork, the clothes, the light — and build a streak. There is no timer, and one wrong answer ends the run.
About this game
Two paintings sit side by side. Was the one on the right made earlier or later than the one on the left? Work from what the picture shows you — the subject, the brushwork, the clothes, the light — and build a streak. There is no timer, and one wrong answer ends the run.
Understanding the comparison
Style dates a painting faster than any single detail. Flat gold grounds and rigid poses point to the fifteenth century; deep shadow and theatrical staging to the seventeenth; loose, visible brushwork and daylight to the later nineteenth. Clothing and everyday objects are the next best clue, and a photographic sharpness usually means the work is later than it looks.
How this measure is defined
The year is the start of the date the museum records, so a painting worked on from 1884 to 1886 counts as 1884, and an approximate date is used as catalogued. Two paintings from the same year are never paired against each other. Every work here is one the Art Institute of Chicago publishes as public domain.
