A painting from 1937 has people wondering if time travel is real after it seemingly shows a Native American man using an "iPhone" while doing the "Sorry, I have to take this call" hand gesture.
The painting called Mr. Pynchon and the Settling of Springfield was created by Italian artist Umberto Romano.
It depicts a colonist and founder of Springfield, Massachusetts, William Pynchon, amid the city's development.
Pynchon eventually went on to write The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption in 1650, the first book to ever be banned in Boston and burned in the Boston Common, as noted in the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum.
Interestingly, Vice reported that Pynchon was an ancestor of the acclaimed and elusive novelist Thomas Pynchon.
This is all intriguing stuff, but what really captures the attention is that a Native American man in the image seemed to encounter a message that took him by surprise.
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The image has been shared on social media with some commentary on Reddit with some concocting scenarios about the Native American and the man tied up behind him.
"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," one wrote.
Another added: "Sure as hell does. Including the look on guy's face, like he just saw his most recent post got downvoted into oblivion."
Other people on Twitter jokingly tried to figure out what "kind" of iPhone the man was using in the picture.
"Is it a gold iPhone?" one asked, while someone else added, "Space Grey?"
Romano, the artist of the painting, crafted another piece of artwork that looks like a woman watching something on an iPad, despite it being painted several decades before the technology had been created.
A possible explanation for the smartphone-appearing device in the Mr.Pynchon painting could be a hand mirror, a popular trade item to use. He could also be examining an axe head.
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