Paolo Uccello, The Virgin and Child, c. 1435-1440, tempera on panel.  National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

I officially vote Uccello’s Christ child as one of the Ugly Renaissance Babies but with amazing elf ears!  He gets them from his mom.  The Virgin Mary’s elf heritage was once hidden by a later blue mantle, now removed.  Check out the transformation below.

  Paolo Uccello’s The Virgin and Child (before and after conservation)

Another cool detail: Christ’s golden headband.  You may recall the entry on the same fashion accessory in a Michelangelo painting.  Evidently Uccello’s elf-Jesus was a trend setter…

  Paolo Uccello, The Virgin and Child, c. 1435-1440, tempera on panel.  National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; Michelangelo Buonarroti, Donni Tondo, c. 1507, oil and tempera on panel.  Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence