Quiz of the Day
Great Museums & the Guggenheim
Wednesday, 21 October 2026
On October 21, 1959, Frank Lloyd Wright's spiraling Guggenheim opened its doors in New York. This quiz wanders the galleries of the world's great museums, from the Louvre to the Hermitage.
1. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, which opened in New York on October 21, 1959, was designed by which architect?
- Frank Gehry
- I. M. Pei
- Le Corbusier
- Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Guggenheim's landmark spiral, a quarter-mile ramp winding up around a central rotunda beneath a glass dome. He spent about 16 years on the project and died in April 1959, roughly six months before it opened. It was the last major work completed to his design.
2. The world's most-visited art museum, home to the Mona Lisa, is located in which city?
- Paris
- Madrid
- Rome
- London
The Louvre in Paris regularly ranks as the most-visited art museum on Earth, drawing millions of visitors each year. Its collection spans from ancient Egyptian antiquities to 19th-century European painting. The Mona Lisa is by far its most famous draw, kept behind protective glass in a dedicated gallery.
3. The Mona Lisa, the Louvre's most famous painting, was created by which artist?
- Michelangelo
- Sandro Botticelli
- Raphael
- Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa in the early 1500s, and the portrait is believed to depict Lisa Gherardini, a Florentine merchant's wife. Leonardo carried the painting with him to France, where it eventually entered the French royal collection. It has hung in the Louvre since the museum's early years.
4. The British Museum, home to the Rosetta Stone, is located in which city?
- Edinburgh
- Dublin
- London
- Manchester
The British Museum was founded in 1753 and opened to the public in 1759 in the Bloomsbury district of London. It was the first national public museum of its kind in the world. Its collection includes the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon (Elgin) Marbles.
5. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the world's largest art museums, is affectionately known by which nickname?
- The Met
- The Guggenheim
- The Frick
- The MoMA
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or 'the Met,' sits on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile. Founded in 1870, its encyclopedic collection covers more than 5,000 years of art from around the globe. Its annual Costume Institute gala, the Met Gala, is a major event in the fashion world.
6. The Vatican Museums include a famous chapel whose ceiling was painted by Michelangelo. What is it called?
- The Pauline Chapel
- The Medici Chapel
- The Sistine Chapel
- The Scrovegni Chapel
Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512, covering it with scenes from the Book of Genesis. The central panel, 'The Creation of Adam,' with two hands nearly touching, is among the most recognized images in Western art. Decades later he returned to paint 'The Last Judgment' on the chapel's altar wall.
7. The glass pyramid that serves as the main entrance to the Louvre was designed by which architect?
- Renzo Piano
- I. M. Pei
- Norman Foster
- Zaha Hadid
The Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei designed the Louvre Pyramid, which was completed in 1989. Its modern glass-and-metal form in the museum's historic courtyard was controversial at first but became an icon of Paris. The pyramid channels visitors down into a spacious underground lobby serving the museum's wings.
8. A titanium-clad Guggenheim museum, designed by Frank Gehry, opened in 1997 in which Spanish city?
- Seville
- Valencia
- Bilbao
- Barcelona
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened in October 1997, its swooping curves sheathed in some 33,000 titanium tiles. The building helped transform the industrial Basque city into a cultural destination, a revival so striking it inspired the term the 'Bilbao Effect.' It remains one of Frank Gehry's most celebrated works.
9. The State Hermitage Museum, one of the world's largest and oldest museums, is located in which city?
- Warsaw
- Moscow
- Vienna
- St. Petersburg
The Hermitage was founded in 1764 by Empress Catherine the Great, who began the collection with a purchase of European paintings. It occupies a complex of buildings including the opulent Winter Palace, the former residence of the Russian tsars. Its holdings run to millions of items across painting, sculpture, and antiquities.
10. The Prado Museum, famed for its works by Velazquez and Goya, is located in which capital city?
- Vienna
- Lisbon
- Rome
- Madrid
The Museo del Prado opened in Madrid in 1819 and holds one of the world's finest collections of European art. Its Spanish masters are a highlight, including Velazquez's 'Las Meninas' and Goya's haunting 'Black Paintings.' The museum sits on Madrid's tree-lined Paseo del Prado alongside other major galleries.
11. The Uffizi Gallery, home to Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus,' is located in which Italian city?
- Naples
- Florence
- Venice
- Milan
The Uffizi in Florence grew from offices ('uffizi') built for the ruling Medici family in the 16th century. It houses an unrivaled collection of Italian Renaissance painting, including works by Botticelli, Leonardo, and Michelangelo. 'The Birth of Venus' and 'Primavera' by Botticelli are among its most beloved masterpieces.
12. The Rijksmuseum, which houses Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch,' is located in which city?
- Brussels
- The Hague
- Amsterdam
- Antwerp
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is the national museum of the Netherlands and a showcase of the Dutch Golden Age. Its centerpiece is Rembrandt's enormous 1642 group portrait 'The Night Watch,' displayed in its own gallery. The museum reopened in 2013 after a decade-long renovation of its grand 19th-century building.
13. Solomon R. Guggenheim's art adviser and the museum's first director, who championed abstract 'non-objective' art, was known as Baroness Hilla von who?
- Berthe Weill
- Hilla von Rebay
- Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
- Peggy Guggenheim
Baroness Hilla von Rebay, herself an abstract artist, guided Solomon R. Guggenheim toward collecting 'non-objective' painting by artists such as Kandinsky. She served as the first director of what was initially called the Museum of Non-Objective Painting. She was also instrumental in choosing Frank Lloyd Wright as the architect for the museum's permanent home.
14. The Louvre first opened to the public as a museum in 1793, during which upheaval?
- The Paris Commune
- The Napoleonic Wars
- The French Revolution
- The July Monarchy
The revolutionary government opened the Louvre as a public museum on August 10, 1793, with a display of just over 500 paintings. The date marked the first anniversary of the fall of the monarchy. Many works came from royal and church collections, newly declared the property of the nation.
15. London's Tate Modern gallery is housed in a converted building that was formerly a what?
- Railway station
- Power station
- Brewery
- Textile mill
Tate Modern occupies the former Bankside Power Station on the south bank of the Thames, opposite St Paul's Cathedral. The Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron converted the brick building, whose vast Turbine Hall now stages huge art installations. It opened as a museum of modern and contemporary art in 2000.