I have no idea if this article makes any scholastic sense, but I do know this paragraph cracked me up: Also, it wasn't just medieval babies--medieval cats looked just as wrecked: http://discardingimages.tumblr.com/post/122257539403/top-10-medieval-butt-licking-cats(Ugly baby note: Generally, people believe the Renaissance began in Florence, Italy, in the 14th century and rippled outward from there. However, like any intellectual movement, that characterization is simultaneously overly broad and narrow: It's too broad in that it gives the impression that Renaissance values were everywhere, instantly, and it's too narrow in that it limits a mass movement to a single pocket of innovation. There were holes in the Renaissance — you might easily see an ugly baby in 1521, if the artist were committed to the style.)