The Annunciation (Paolo Caliari) and The Raising of Lazarus (Joachim Wtewael) are oil paintings on canvas located in the Blanton Museum of Art. The Annunciation is set on a balcony during sunset; the archangel Gabriel appears to ascend from heaven and a woman appears to stand in awe of the sight. The Raising of Lazarus depicts approximately fourteen people in a scene in which each looks at a different person, but no eye contact occurs. People are in the foreground and a city can be seen in the background. Although these artworks were created in a similar time period and share some similarities, these paintings also contrast in many ways when viewed up close. An obvious difference between the two paintings is in the choice of colors used by the artists. Paolo Caliari's use of lighter pastel colors in the Annunciation may be due to the angelic presence illustrated in the painting. Light colors create a heavenly feeling; darker colors would be less likely to have the same effect of inducing the feelings of comfort and serenity that these light colors do. On the other hand, The Raising of Lazarus uses bolder and darker colors; Wtewael used these colors because they are more appropriate for the austere scene of the people he is depicting. The light colors would clash with the darkness of the anguished facial expressions and body gestures of the people in the painting. Unlike the Annunciation, the colors in The Raising of Lazarus stand out only in the foreground of the painting to draw the viewer's attention to the subject rather than the background. The use of light is an integral component of both of these paintings. In the Annunciation, the source of light, which comes from the sky, is... at the center of the sheet... of the relationship between the people in the composition and their feelings in each other's company. The viewer is forced to think critically about the people in the painting, their feelings and body language. I found The Raising of Lazarus and The Annunciation interesting pieces on their own and to compare. At first glance, these paintings do not appear to contain many contrasting characteristics. However, by examining these paintings closely, one can conclude that paintings of similar themes, mediums, and time periods can still differ in countless ways. Light, medium, subject, color, space and point of view are just some of the characteristics that can be taken into consideration when analyzing the works of Wtewael and Caliari. It is imperative that art observers take a deeper look at the different characteristics of the artwork in an attempt to discover the artist's intentions.