• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Time-travel theory debunked after man is ‘spotted with iPhone’ in 1937 painting

Home> News

Published 17:00 3 Jun 2023 GMT+1

Time-travel theory debunked after man is ‘spotted with iPhone’ in 1937 painting

Surely they couldn't have seen the advent of the iPhone before time?

Kit Roberts

Kit Roberts

A painting from 1937 recently went viral after people were convinced they spotted a man using an iPhone in it, but unsurprisingly, this theory has since been debunked.

The painting - Mr. Pynchon and the Settling of Springfield by Umberto Romano - shows the colonisation of what is now Springfield Massachusetts and includes one detail which has got people talking.

The detail shows an Indigenous man holding a grey rectangular object. He is also staring at it intently, with an odd expression on his face.

It's easy to see the resemblance.
David Stansbury/Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Advert

This is where that habit of imposing our modern thinking on the past comes in.

Many people have jokingly suggested that the man is actually holding an iPhone, despite the device not being released until decades later.

It's easy to see the comparison, as the form of the man's hand actually looks very similar to how we scroll through our phones today.

One Redditor wrote: "Looks like they are going through the tied-up guy's browser history. Thinking maybe we should untie him. He seems to be into this kinda thing."

Another posted: "Sure as hell does. Including the look on guy's face, like he just saw his most recent post got downvoted into oblivion."

Advert

It's a pretty brutal painting.
David Stansbury/Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Of course, there's no way that Romano could actually have intended to convey someone looking at an iPhone.

It's not the only time his work showed someone appearing to use a piece of modern technology - another piece shows a woman looking at an object which, to a modern eye, could be an iPad or tablet.

So what actually are they? It's difficult to say exactly, but there are many possibilities. One of the most likely explanations for the woman is that she is looking at a mirror which happens to be about the same size as a modern tablet. As for the man with the 'iPhone', it could be some sort of axe head, or again a hand mirror.

Although, the base description of a small rectangular object which can be held in the hand doesn't really narrow it down a great deal!

Advert

Nonetheless, it's an interesting way to show how modern conceptions can be projected back onto things from the past, as I'm sure we can safely assume the man was not checking his Instagram notifications at the time of the painting...

Featured Image Credit: David Stansbury/Smithsonian National Postal Museum

Topics: News, Weird, History

Kit Roberts
Kit Roberts

Kit joined LADbible Group in 2023 as a community journalist. They previously worked for StokeonTrentLive, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Star.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

2 hours ago
3 hours ago
  • 2 hours ago

    Man horrified to discover his new home is actually someone else's Airbnb

    Ben Echianu, from Manchester, branded the woman whom he believes posed as a landlord as 'heartless'

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Christian Horner releases statement after being sacked by Red Bull after 20 years

    Horner shared a lengthy statement on social media

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Donald Trump shuts down reporter who asked Jeffrey Epstein question following release of CCTV footage

    It seems the US President deems the topic to be no longer up for discussion

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Cardiologist who had heart attack warns people to not 'make same mistake' over little-known warning sign

    The irony isn't lost on Dr William Wilson

    News
  • Mysterious image 'showing fate' of man who disappeared after contacting cannibalistic tribe has been debunked
  • Man digs up time capsule from 2000 and people are shocked at how much has changed in last 25 years
  • Man who found painting at a tip sold it for insane amount of money
  • Man discovers what lump on head is 30 years after being hit by cricket ball