Michelangelo's painting of "The Holy Family with the Infant St. John the Baptist" catches my eye more so than Jan van Eyck's "Madonna in the Church." These two paintings differ in many respects because they come from two different time periods. Renaissance paintings were often of great leaders or people of great importance, whereas Medieval paintings were mainly tied to the Church or religion.
             Paintings in the Medieval years use less vivid colors than paintings in the Rennaisance. Eyck's painting looks as though a mixture of four or five dark colors were used, whereas Michelangelo uses a variety of strong, bright colors. Michelangelo's painting also takes on a three-dimensional effect, where you can tell that there is depth in the picture as Eyck's painting does not have the same dimensional effect. Michelangelo uses this dimensional effect to make the painting more realistic to help the viewer feel as though they were inside the picture. He uses a great deal of scenery, such as the details in the landscaping of the grass and the mountains and hills in the background. Michelangelo also uses many variations in size which helps add depth to the picture. The people in the background are smaller than the people in the foreground, showing that these people are placed behind St. John the Baptist. Along with the variation in size, Michelango also uses shading or chiaroscuro to add to the three-dimensional look. He uses these techniques in the appearance of the people as well as the scenery. Michelangelo adds expressions to the faces of the people in the painting, suggesting that each individual has his or her own personality. The paintings in the Renaissance use the nude to depict humanity, as Michelangelo does with the people in the background of the painting.
             Eyck, on the other hand, does not share the use of these techniques that Michelangelo applied to his paintings. The Madonna in the Church does not seem to have any noticeable ...