#4 - Concept Reference, Strengthen

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

The correct answer choice is (D).

Answer choice (A):

Answer choice (B):

Answer choice (C):

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (E):

This explanation is still in progress. Please post any questions below!

[ChicaRosa]

I don't understand why answer choice D is the correct answer and not A?

I thought A was the correct answer because of ln 47-51.

From answer choice D it was hard for me to find and interpret where in the third paragraph does it mention that artists raised the price of a painting if the buyer wanted the work revised. From that paragraph I understood that Rembrandt left his artwork unfinished on purpose to make more money for their revision and completion but no mention of artists doing this nor does it mention that artists charged more if buyers wanted revisions.

Thank you!

[Jonathan Evans]

Hi, Chica,

When you encounter RC questions that are analogous to LR problems, you need to treat them similarly. Such questions will often be far more comprehensible if you consider them simplified versions of the respective LR problems.

For a "Strengthen" question such as this you need to identify the conclusion as usual, consider any evidence offered to back up this conclusion, and finally consider what other evidence would further support the conclusion. I invite the other LSAT experts on this forum to correct me, but anecdotally I have observed that "supporter" strengthen answers are more common than "defender" strengthen answers on RC. In other words, often strengthen questions on RC will elicit credited responses that bolster the argument with additional evidence for the conclusion.

In this case, you need to identify Alpers' argument about Claudius Civilis specifically and about Rembrandt more generally as the conclusion of this argument, namely that Rembrandt purposefully left this painting unfinished upon delivery to the Council of Amsterdam in order to get more money by retouching the painting (ln 37-45). The evidence offered so far in support of this conclusion are Rembrandt's purported venality and the "broad strokes" used in this painting (ln 21-23, ln 45-46). To prephrase, you would need to consider the kind of evidence that would give us further reason to believe Alpers' conclusion about Rembrandt's motives and this painting. Basically, to increase the likelihood of her argument's validity, we would want to know that Rembrandt did in fact leave his paintings unfinished in order to get more money and did not use his style principally for aesthetic purposes, as the author of the passage contends is possible (ln 47-58).

Answer choice A actually weakens Alpers' argument, suggesting that Rembrandt's motives were aesthetic rather than pecuniary. Answer choice D provides evidence that revisions were a source of revenue for artists, increasing the likelihood that Rembrandt left this particular painting unfinished in order to make more money. This answer provides the most support for Alpers' argument.

I hope this helps.