#10 - Michelangelo’s sixteenth century Sistine Chapel

[GLMDYP]

Hi!
I think the answer should be (C) rather than (A). For (A), does it means that V stripped M's work as well?
Thanks!

[David Boyle]

Hi!
I think the answer should be (C) rather than (A). For (A), does it means that V stripped M's work as well?
Thanks!

Hello,

For A, it looks like it, that V stripped everyone's work. So there'd be no point to erasing V's work, since there'd be nothing underneath. So the restorers would be right to let V stay.
Answer C doesn't help, in that, among other things, all the other painters probably painted in a similar style to Michelangelo's as well, so why aren't they being let stay too?

David

[karen_k]

Hi,

Why is A a better answer than C? I thought C was correct since Da Volterra's painting style was similar to Michelangelo's and therefore valued and therefore left alone.

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi Karen,

Thanks for your question. Recall that the goal of the restorers is to uncover Michelangelo's original work. So, why leave da Volterra's additions? Well if answer choice (A) is true and da Volterra stripped away all previous layers of paint before adding his own additions, removing his work would not uncover anything - all that would be left is a blank wall (or ceiling). Removing da Volterra's work would certainly not uncover Michelangelo's original work, so there is no compelling reason to get rid of it.

You chose answer choice (C), because you thought it establishes that da Volterra's work is valuable and should therefore be left alone. However, the restorers aren't looking to preserve just any valuable work; their goal - as stated in the stimulus - is to uncover Michelangelo's original work. If other artists' works are getting stripped away, why not get rid of da Volterra too? Similarity to Michelangelo does not necessarily make his work any more valuable than the rest. Furthermore, one could argue that if da Volterra's style is especially similar to Michelangelo's, you wouldn't know which paintings belong to Michelangelo, and which belong to da Volterra. That would be confusing to future observers, and might detract from the restorers' objective.

Hope this clears things up! Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

[karen_k]

Thank you, Nikki!

[LSAT99.9]

Hi,

Sorry to chime in. But I have a question about this as well. I thought that if V's work was stripped M's original painting would be left because didn't V make additions to M's original painting? Also, could you please explain why B is incorrect, I thought that because V used muted coloures you would be able to see M's work underneath V's, thus the restorers could uncover M's original work.

Thank you!

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi 99.9,

The stimulus indicates that "additions made to Michelangelo's paintings by later artists are being removed," but apparently the additions painted by da Volterra should be left intact. Theres is obviously something special about these additions - and answer choice (A) gives us the answer. Stripping away da Volterra's addition won't uncover anything, as I explained above - so there is no reason to remove them. Better to have something painted than be left with a blank wall

I thought that if V's work was stripped M's original painting would be left because didn't V make additions to M's original painting?

The author neither states nor implies that stripping away any additions to Michelangelo's paintings is guaranteed to uncover the original. That's just the goal of the restorers. You're making a big assumption here - read closely!

As far as B is concerned, you're making another unwarranted assumption: just because da Volterra's additions have relatively muted colors doesn't mean that you can see Michelangelo's paintings through them. That's a bit of a stretch. And even if you could, the goal of the restorers is to uncover Michelangelo's original work, not merely ensure that you can "sort of" see it through the work of someone else. So, B does little to explain why the restorers kept da Volterra's additions.

Hope this helps! Let me know.

Thanks,

[LSAT99.9]

Thank you so much Nikki!

[hlee18]

Greetings,

The question stem asks us to identify what helps to reconcile the restorers' decision with the goal stated in the passage.

The goal is "... to uncover Michelangelo's original work".

Given that the answer is (A), I am not sure if this does in fact reconcile the restorer's decision with the goal stated in the passage.

The answer choice (A) states, "The restorers believe that da Volterra stripped away all previous layers of paint before he painted his own additions to the Sistine Chapel.".

That means, that if Michelangelo painted first, and then it was painted over by Person X, and then Person Y, and then finally da Volterra came in and removed the paints from Person Y, X, and then Michelangelo himself before painting anew. In other words, if the restorers do in fact believe that this happened, then there is no way that they will ever reach the goal stated, to uncover Michelangelo's original work.

They are left with the choice, either to present Michelangelo's altered work by da Volterra and thus leaving intact the addition that was painted by him, which is not Michelangelo's original work, or present a blank slate from having removed da Volterra's paint the only thing remaining on the Sistine Chapel, completely.

In neither case, do the restorers achieve their goal, and therefore, (A) cannot successfully reconcile their decision with the goal stated in the passage.

[Adam Tyson]

Interesting analysis here, hlee18, but I think you may be misunderstanding what is meant by "reconcile." When we talk about reconciling two things on the LSAT, we are talking about allowing them to coexist. Leaving V's work doesn't have to accomplish the stated goal, it just has to not conflict with that goal. That's what it means to reconcile the two!

The decision to leave V's work in place can be reconciled with the goal of restoring M's original work, because removing it is not required to restore anything. It's possible to leave V's work in place and still not be in conflict with the goal of restoration of M's. They can restore as much of M's work as possible, and at the same time leave V's work as it is. No conflict - they are reconcilable.

I'm assuming you selected answer A here despite not liking it too much? If so, good job! We don't have to love the right answer. We don't even have to like the right answer. We just have to recognize that it is better than the other four, and is therefore the credited response. Never fight with an answer! It's either the best answer of the bunch, or it isn't.