• 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.

Advert

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

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."

Advert

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."

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.

Advert

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!

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:

6 mins ago
7 mins ago
an hour ago
  • 6 mins ago

    What we know about British mum whose ‘heart went missing’ as medical report rules death as food poisoning

    Beth Martin passed away on 29 April during what should have been a family holiday to Turkey with her husband and children

    News
  • 7 mins ago

    Shocking moment tourist shatters ‘priceless’ crystal ‘Van Gogh’ chair by sitting on it

    The gallery has slammed the tourists on social media

    News
  • an hour ago

    Diddy left fuming as juror is removed mid-trial

    The rapper could face life in prison if found guilty

    News
  • an hour ago

    Man who also survived plane crash sat in seat 11a had 'goosebumps' when he heard about Air India coincidence

    The Thai singer can still remember the 'smell' of the swamp the plane crashed into

    News
  • Man who found painting at a tip sold it for insane amount of money
  • Shocking case of young man left with blocked food pipe after eating common superfood
  • Man explains real theory behind why time feels like it has gone so fast since 2020
  • Former CIA agent claims they know where Ark of the Covenant is after release of secret file