The Ugliest Babies To Ever Grace A Renaissance Painting (PHOTOS)

We've all been in that awkward situation where a new mother or father introduces us to their pride and joy, and all we can think is, "that baby's kinda ugly." But it's doubly awkward if we have the same feeling when we're standing in front of an alleged masterpiece.

That's the situation that the hilarious tumblr, "Ugly Renaissance Babies" attempts to capture. Their extensive research has found that even the great masters can't seem to paint newborns, and the blog's creators really know how to tear a religious Renaissance portrait apart, noting that one baby looks as though it was based on "a hairless rhesus monkey."

Reading deeper into the subject matter, "Ugly Renaissance Babies" questions the ideals of beauty and portraiture and asks the bigger question of why we hold supposed cultural treasures in such high regard anyway. After all, regardless of context, aren't we just looking at a bunch of unfortunately-faced babies? See a slideshow of some of our favorites below, and visit the site for more highlights.