Aim for FiveArt History

Free-response practice

Art History free-response questions

Free-response questions (FRQs) are the part of the AP® Art History exam where you write your own answers. Here they're grouped the way the exam uses them. Write your answer, then score it yourself with the rubric and a model answer, or sign in for free AI scoring.

16 questions · 6 types

Long essay: comparison

You compare a required work shown on screen with a second work you choose and identify (from a short list or another relevant work), then explain similarities and differences and make a claim about what they mean, backed by visual and contextual evidence.

On the exam: Section II, question 1 of 6: a long essay with a suggested 35 minutes. The free-response section is 2 hours and 50% of the score. Plan on about 35 minutes for one.

Long essay: visual/contextual analysis

With no image given, you choose and identify a work (from a short list or another work from the named content area) and write an argument answering the prompt, using visual and contextual evidence and explaining how it supports your claim.

On the exam: Section II, question 2 of 6: a long essay with a suggested 25 minutes and no image provided. Plan on about 25 minutes for one.

Short essay: visual analysis

You describe the visual features of a work you haven’t studied (image provided), explain how the artist’s choices shape it, and connect it to an artistic tradition, style or practice.

On the exam: Section II, question 3 of 6: a short essay on a work beyond the image set (image provided), with a suggested 15 minutes. Plan on about 15 minutes for one.

Short essay: contextual analysis

You describe a required work (image provided) and its context, such as its setting, function or patron, then explain how that context shaped the artist’s choices or the work’s meaning. Some years you also explain how scholars have interpreted it.

On the exam: Section II, question 4 of 6: a short essay on a work from the image set (image provided), with a suggested 15 minutes. Plan on about 15 minutes for one.

Short essay: attribution

You attribute a work you haven’t studied (image provided) to an artist, culture, style or object type from the required works, and justify it with specific visual evidence, often adding contextual evidence about the culture that made it.

On the exam: Section II, question 5 of 6: a short essay on a work beyond the image set (image provided), with a suggested 15 minutes. Plan on about 15 minutes for one.

Short essay: continuity and change

You describe a required work (image provided) and explain how it continues, and how it changes, an earlier artistic tradition, style or practice. You often also explain how the work could be interpreted.

On the exam: Section II, question 6 of 6: a short essay on a work from the image set (image provided), with a suggested 15 minutes. Plan on about 15 minutes for one.