LSAT 78, Reading Comprehension, Q13, LSATHacks

RC Question 13 Explanation, by LSATHacks

DISCUSSION: If you read lines 15-19 in full, it’s clear that Raphael’s frescoes in the Vatican apartments are an example of art that expressed the patron’s values. 

And Taruskin was arguing precisely that art did express elite values, so the frescos are an example that is consistent with Taruskin’s argument.

___________

1. CORRECT. The sociohistorical critics, such as Taruskin, believed art embodied elite values. The frescoes are an example of this, as they embodied the pope’s values.
2. The passage is not about religion per se. Religion can be a type of elite value, but the passage is about elite values more generally. In other words, the Pope is important because he was elite, not because he was religious.
3. Nothing indicates the pope’s relationship with Raphael was typical. In fact, we hardly know anything about the pope’s relationship with Raphael!
4. This contradicts the passage. Lines 17-18 suggest that the frescos “expressed and mirrored” the Pope’s ideals and way of life.
5. Nonsense! The frescos embodied the Pope Julius II’s values, so they are an examples of the critics’ view of art.

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