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Showing posts with label paintings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paintings. Show all posts

Saturday

Nike trainer spotted in 17th century painting

trainers, to be exact.

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Portrait of a Boy was painted by renowned Dutch artist Ferdinand Bol in the 17th century, depicting an eight-year-old lad standing in the foreground, holding a goblet while resting his other hand on his hip.

The youngster is dressed in clothes typical of the period, sporting a black jacket and cape, a white shirt with puffed sleeves, reddish-brown socks and black boots.

Well, that's until you take a closer look at the footwear to see what seems to be a white Nike 'tick' logo on the side of the youngster's left trainer.

That in itself is quite unlikely, given that Nike was established as a company in 1964, with the portrait being painted a staggering 300 years prior to that.

This bizarre time-travelling mantis was spotted by Fiona Foskett, 57, who was visiting the London gallery with her daughter, Holly, 23.

"I asked my daughter, 'Is he wearing a pair of Nike trainers?' Foskett told

Given his age, he's likely acquired those very first Nike trainers ever made. Then again, perhaps he's actually a time traveller?

A spokesperson from the National Gallery stated: "We are thrilled that this picture has been such a huge success with our visitors."

It really caught on when we tweeted asking people to pay closer attention to the shoes of the eight-year-old boy in the portrait and see if they could pick out a more contemporary detail.

Ancient Greek statue depicting 'woman with laptop' sparks speculation that time travel may be possible.

This article was first published on 20 May 2023.

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