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Michelangelo's painting

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Michelangelo's painting

by Dean Jones » Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:59 am
Hi Friends,
I am having problem with the following question. Please help.

A newly discovered painting on wooden panel by Michelangelo must have been completed after 1507 but before 1509. It cannot have been painted earlier than 1507 because one of its central figures carries a coin that was not minted until that year. It cannot have been painted after 1509 because it contains a pigment that Michelangelo is known to have abandoned when a cheaper alternative became available in that year. Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

"¢ No stocks of the abandoned pigment existed after 1509.
"¢ Michelangelo did not work on the painting over the course of several years.
"¢ The coin depicted in the painting was known to general public in 1507.
"¢ The wooden panel on which the painting was executed cannot be tested accurately for age.
"¢ Michelangelo's painting style did not change between 1507 and 1509.

OA after some discussion.
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by GmatKiss » Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:22 am
IMO: B, please let me know if this is correct :)
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by swipesville » Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:35 am
Difficult Question...I came up with B as well, almost by process of elimination. It seems that in the argument the author is very concerned with pinpointing an exact year of painting execution. He basically is torn between two choices and uses the form "have been painted" indicating completion as opposed to some kind of continuous tense. Therefore I believe he's primary concern is pinpointing that exact year of painting completion, and disregarding the notion that it could have been carried out over a period of years..

~Brett
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by amit.saxena » Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:09 pm
+1 for B
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by smackmartine » Mon Oct 24, 2011 6:14 pm
IMO B

"¢ No stocks of the abandoned pigment existed after 1509. (extreme)
"¢ Michelangelo did not work on the painting over the course of several years.[Apply negation test : If Michelangelo WORKED on the painting over a course of several years, the two reasoning provided by the author doesn't stand ]
"¢ The coin depicted in the painting was known to general public in 1507. [who know's : out of scope]
"¢ The wooden panel on which the painting was executed cannot be tested accurately for age. (extreme)
"¢ Michelangelo's painting style did not change between 1507 and 1509. [Apply negation test and the statement will have no effect on the conclusion]
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by swetamurthy » Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:51 am
Dean Jones wrote:Hi Friends,
I am having problem with the following question. Please help.

A newly discovered painting on wooden panel by Michelangelo must have been completed after 1507 but before 1509. It cannot have been painted earlier than 1507 because one of its central figures carries a coin that was not minted until that year. It cannot have been painted after 1509 because it contains a pigment that Michelangelo is known to have abandoned when a cheaper alternative became available in that year. Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

"¢ No stocks of the abandoned pigment existed after 1509.
"¢ Michelangelo did not work on the painting over the course of several years.
"¢ The coin depicted in the painting was known to general public in 1507.
"¢ The wooden panel on which the painting was executed cannot be tested accurately for age.
"¢ Michelangelo's painting style did not change between 1507 and 1509.

OA after some discussion.
1.16min
IMO E


ASSUMTION IS BASED ON THE KNOWN PAINTING STYLE Michelangelo is known to have abandoned X AND REPLACED WITH Y
NEGATING E - IT DIRECTLY ATTACKS CONCLUSION

IF THE PAINTING STYLES CHANGED BETWEEN 1507 AND 1509, MAYBE MICHELANGELO AGAIN USED THE OLD PIGMENT IN THE LATER STAGE, HENCE WE CANNOT CONCLUDE THAT IT WAS NOT PAINTED AFTER 1909.[/spoiler]
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by saketk » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:04 pm
smackmartine wrote:IMO B

"¢ No stocks of the abandoned pigment existed after 1509. (extreme)
"¢ Michelangelo did not work on the painting over the course of several years.[Apply negation test : If Michelangelo WORKED on the painting over a course of several years, the two reasoning provided by the author doesn't stand ]
"¢ The coin depicted in the painting was known to general public in 1507. [who know's : out of scope]
"¢ The wooden panel on which the painting was executed cannot be tested accurately for age. (extreme)
"¢ Michelangelo's painting style did not change between 1507 and 1509. [Apply negation test and the statement will have no effect on the conclusion]
We cannot say that option D is extreme. That option is not relevant to the question.. We are talking about the Painting and not the wooden panel. I agree with the answer though.
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by vzzai » Tue Oct 25, 2011 9:41 pm
+1 B
Thank you,
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by Dean Jones » Wed Oct 26, 2011 6:32 am
The OA is B. I could not understand why option A is ruled out. Because even if some stock of the pigment existed after 1509, then that could have been used by Michelangelo.

Can anyone please clear my doubt.
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by saketk » Wed Oct 26, 2011 8:12 am
Dean Jones wrote:The OA is B. I could not understand why option A is ruled out. Because even if some stock of the pigment existed after 1509, then that could have been used by Michelangelo.

Can anyone please clear my doubt.
In CR question we have to limit our answer to the information given in the question. You cannot be sure about the usage of leftovers by the painter. Can you ?
That's the reason we cannot choose A
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by Tibin » Tue Sep 03, 2013 7:28 pm
Ans is B

Negation technique works fine here : Negating the assumption should weaken the conclusion.

(A' stands for negation of A)

A' : Stocks of the abandoned pigment existed after 1509. : Availability does not guarantee the USAGE of the paint.

B' : Michelangelo Worked on the painting over the course of several years. : The argument says about " a pigment that Michelangelo is known to have abandoned ". If he painted the image with the abandoned pigment during the mentioned period and painted it using a different paint after the period, the conclusion will not hold. The argument does not say anything about the presence of the new paint.
eg: He used a particular paint from 1507 to 1509 and the paint was abandoned in 1509. He used a new paint to complete the painting.old paint can be found in the painting even though he fininshed the painting after 1509.

C' : The coin depicted in the painting was not known to general public in 1507. : We are talking not talking about the general public. Does not weaken the conclusion.

D' : The wooden panel on which the painting was executed can be tested accurately for age. : Does this weaken the conclusion? No. We are talking about coin and pigment, not panel.

E' : Michelangelo's painting style changed between 1507 and 1509. : Whether Michelangelo's painting style changed during this period does not relate to either the coin or the pigment. So, doesn't weaken the conclusion.


NOTE : many assumption questions can be solved using negation technique. Negating the assumption should weaken the conclusion.
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