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A painting from 1670 is baffling many people on the internet as it appears that a man in it is holding a iPhone from the 21st century.
While that, obviously, isn’t possible (right?) since there was no such thing as an iPhone in the 17th century, it hasn’t stopped a painting by Pieter de Hooch from causing a stir online.
Several people have suggested that the man in the painting is a time traveler. Among those people are Apple CEO Tim Cook.
While on a trip to Amsterdam in 2016, Cook was asked at a press conference, “Do you happen to know, Tim, where and when the iPhone was invented?”
“You know, I thought I knew until last night,” Cook replied. “Last night Neelie took me over to look at some Rembrandt and in one of the paintings I was so shocked. There was an iPhone in one of the paintings.”
The painting Cook was referring to, located in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, was actually created by de Hooch, not Rembrandt.
“I always thought I knew when the iPhone was invented, but now I’m not so sure anymore,” Cook added.
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That’s not an iPhone. It’s a Nokia 3310 !!!!
— north lincs imp (@AndrewParrish7) October 10, 2022
The painting’s title alone (“A Woman Directing a Young Man With a Letter”) should be enough to explain everything, but either most people aren’t aware of it, or in some cases, simply don’t want to believe it.
But who would you call?
— 🌻 Russell Hayward 🇺🇦 🇦🇺 (@russelljh) October 11, 2022
The 1670 painting shows that, based on our own preconceptions, we often will see what we want to see
The discussion of the painting comes on the heels of another, similar conversation about a painting from 1860.
In that painting, “The Expected One” by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, a woman is shown walking on a dirt path towards a man squatting on the ground and holding a pink flower. The woman, however, appears to holding what appears to be what many on the internet said looks like an iPhone.
The explanation for why so many people saw a smartphone, rather than a prayer book (which is what she was actually holding), also holds true for 1670 the painting by Pieter de Hooch.
Back then, every person who viewed the painting would have seen the object for what it was – a letter.
Today, however, our perceptions have changed so we see an object of that shape and size a whole lot differently.
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