Words in Context SAT question

Choice C is the best answer because it most logically completes the discussion of the artist Diego Velázquez’s influence outside Spain. As used in this context, “confined to” means restricted to. The text says that Velázquez was the leading artist in the Spanish court during the seventeenth century, but it also notes that other painters around the world were influenced by his techniques and style. Thus, Velázquez’s influence was hardly (or almost not) confined to, or restricted to, Spain.

Choice A is incorrect because if Velázquez was a leading artist in Spain, it doesn’t make logical sense to claim that his influence was hardly (or almost not) derived from, or obtained from, Spain. Moreover, the other painters around the world who employed Velázquez’s techniques would by definition be influenced by Spanish style. Choice B is incorrect because if Velázquez was a leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain, then his influence must have been widely recognized, or acknowledged, rather than being hardly (or almost not) recognized. Choice D is incorrect because the text gives no indication that deliberately limiting Velázquez’s influence outside Spain was ever considered by anyone. Thus, even if it is true that his influence was not repressed, or restrained, it doesn’t make logical sense to say so in this context.