DISCUSSION: This question asks about lines 12-13. To fully understand the meaning of “something for display”, you should read on to lines 15-16: “even if one finds it [the house] impossible to live in.”
This implies that the patrons were creating art purely because it created a favorable impression – the patrons themselves disliked the art. (If you were making a house purely for yourself, you’d make one you could live in.)
The phrase “may reflect great credit on one’s taste” (line 14-15) shows that the display was to impress others.
___________
- Unlikely. This sounds more like the second type of art (lines 15-19), where the patron expressed their values to the world.
- The author never specified whether the patrons were businessmen. This type of patronage might have been more common among noblemen.
- CORRECT. Indeed. If patrons commissioned houses they personally found uncomfortable (lines 15-16), then “on display” must refer to being on display for others. The line “reflect great credit on one’s taste” (lines 14-15) shows the commission was for enhancing the patron’s prestige.
- This might be true, but it doesn’t need to be, and it wasn’t why the author used the words “on display”.
- “Even if one finds the house impossible to live in” suggests that patrons did not necessarily get satisfaction from what they commissioned.
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