"The Polish Rider," ostensibly painted by the legendary Rembrandt van Rijn, was recently deattributed by the Rembrandt Research Project. Its authenticity had previously been disputed by critics as well, but for incorrect reasons.

Comparing it to Rembrandt's finest works, critics rejected "Polish Rider" as artistically inferior, saying Rembrandt himself would never have produced a painting of such low quality. Yet such a comparison presupposes that Rembrandt himself never produced anything less than his finest work. By this standard, any one of Rembrandt's earlier, lesser, or more obscure paintings becomes a target for deattribution.

In fact, "Polish Rider" seems a studied attempt to copy Rembrandt's style. If the painting is viewed as a deliberate forgery, features which initially seem like artistic "flaws" will appear as the results of a calculated but overdone attempt to reproduce Rembrandt's artistic flourishes, with imperfect results. Like all forgeries, it has the telltale signs of trying too hard.

First, there is the apparent similarity of sunlight: a yellow-gold hue colors the land, so like Rembrandt's landscapes circa 1638. The sun is covered in a diffuse golden mist, in Rembrandt's famous style of representing direct sunlight. Yet the light's luminance alone would be too weak and hazy to fully illuminate the contours of the cliffs. We expect a more muted, narrow color band for the background, which would just begin to suggest the details of the cliff face. It seems that this artist lavished great care in rendering the features of the stone, whereas Rembrandt would not have bothered to dwell on such details.

Then, there is the horse: its rendering is poor, but flawed in a way that suggests not lack of skill, but overcompensation in copying an unfamiliar style. Art historians note Rembrandt's style grew less precise and more "painterly" with the passage of time. This artist must have known this as well, and worked to make his strokes looser and less distinct than was natural for him. An unintended consequence was a noticeable streaking. A wide brush was used to thinly spread a few drops of paint into a broad, loose stroke. Yet it was done to a fault: there was insufficient paint on the brush to cover the canvas from the stroke's start to finish, producing rough, shallow, streaked bands. The strokes became too "painterly," - even looser, rougher, and shallower than Rembrandt's. This exaggerated stroke ended up causing a ghastly illusion of emaciated horse skin over bone.

Which of the following best summarizes the author's criticism of the argument put forward by the critics mentioned in the first paragraph while rejecting the Polish Rider as a painting made by Rembrandt?

A. The critics incorrectly assumed that Rembrandt did not make any paintings that were worse than the Polish Rider
B. The critics incorrectly assumed that Rembrandt was incapable of producing paintings of low quality
C. The critics overlooked the fact that the imperfections in the painting could have been deliberately introduced by Rembrandt
D. The critics erroneously compared this painting to Rembrandt's finest works
E. The critics have not chosen deattribute some of Rembrandt's earlier lesser-known works



What is the primary purpose of the author in the passage?

A. To raise doubts against the soundness of a decision by an organization to deatrribute a work to a famous painter
B. To argue against the reasoning provided by some critics while deatrributing a work to a famous painter
C. To weaken a theory questioning the authenticity of a particular work of art and to provide an alternate explanation for the same
D. To discuss the ways in which a particular work of art differs from those made by a famous painter
E. To provide evidence in support of a claim that has been made by critics and that has been questioned by a research organization



According to the passage, which of the following would have prevented the horse (mentioned in the last paragraph) from appearing emaciated?

A. If the forger had a better understanding of Rembrandt's painting style
B. If the forger did not wish to paint in a "painterly" manner
C. If the forger used a narrower brush
D. If the forger put more paint on his brush
E. If the painter painted in a more indistinct manner


Consider all that apply

Which of the following can be inferred about the forger who actually drew the Polish Rider?

A. The forger did not lack artistic skill, yet he made some elementary mistakes while drawing the painting that led to the painting being deattributed
B. The forger was aware of the various nuances of Rembrandt's painting style, but he failed to replicate the same accurately in his painting
C. Had the forger not tried too hard to make the painting look authentic, the painting would not have been deattributed