Who caused this fire at the Houses of Parliament? The great British art quiz

This quiz is brought to you in collaboration with Art UK, the online home for the UK’s public art collections, showing art from more than 3,000 venues and by 45,000 artists. Each day, a different collection on Art UK will set the questions.

Today, our questions are set by the Parliamentary Art Collection which holds more than 9,000 works of art that tell the story of parliament and British politics over the centuries. It is jointly owned and managed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Artworks date from the medieval period to the 21st century, with new works of art continuing to be commissioned and acquired.

You can see art from the Parliamentary Art Collection on Art UK here. Find out more on the collection’s website here.

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin is widely credited with defining the style of the interiors in the new Palace of Westminster. Who was the architect that won the competition to redesign the palace after the 1834 fire, and who brought Pugin in for the project? The Houses of Parliament suffered a devastating fire in 1834. What caused the fire? Artist Charles West Cope created many works of art for the Houses of Parliament. This sketch was created in preparation for a mural titled The Setting Out of the Train Bands from London to Raise the Siege of Gloucester. What technique did the artist use to create the final piece? This work, also by Cope, depicts a scene from one of Shakespeare’s plays. Which is it? Lady Jane Grey was briefly Queen of England in 1553. For how many days did she reign? In 1909 it was highly unusual for a female artist to create a work of art at parliament. Which artist painted A Scene on the Terrace of the House of Commons? Philip Alexius de László was a prolific portrait painter. Which of these famous figures did he not paint? In 2004, Jonathan Yeo’s portrait of MP Paul Boateng was part of a touring exhibition for which art award?

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