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Proof of time travel? 350-year-old painting seems to feature an iPhone, Tim Cook agrees

While the iPhone was first unveiled in 2007, many claim to have spotted the iconic phone in a painting that dates back to 1670

Time travel has been always been something people want so desperately to be true, which explains why there are many instances of time travelers being "spotted" at unusual places. While much of pop culture is dominated by the idea, it seems that people aren't ready to spare instances from the past either. One such example is the painting by 17th-century Dutch artist Pieter de Hooch, which seems to feature an iPhone. 

While "officially", the man on the right is handing a letter to a woman seated on a chair with a dog resting on her lap, the rectangular object in his hand has been interpreted by many to be an iPhone. And before you dismiss this claim, you should know that the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook had also weighed in on the debate once. 

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During The Start-up Fest in 2016, LadBible reported that Cook was asked, "Do you happen to know Tim, where and when the iPhone was invented?" Addressing a crowd a day after his visit to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where Hooch's painting is housed, he said, "You know, I thought I knew until last night. 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." Acknowledging that his claim may come off as ridiculous, he explained, "It’s tough to see but I swear it’s there. I always thought I knew when the iPhone was invented, but now I’m not so sure anymore."

De Hooch was famous for his 'genre works' that portrayed domestic scenes, and what is more domestic in today's time than a smartphone in somebody's palm, even if the said smartphone appears centuries before the official launch of the iPhone. And while the Dutch painter, who died in 1684, cannot clarify what was his point of reference when he painted the said painting, the title 'Man Handing a Letter to a Woman in the Entrance Hall of a House' should have certainly cleared matters.  

Nevertheless, this doesn't stop people from spotting an iPhone in similar paintings. A 162-year-old work by 19th-century Austrian artist Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller titled 'The Expected One' went viral after many believed the woman is holding an iPhone. 

Reacting to it, Peter Russell, a retired local Glasgow Government officer, remarked, "No one could fail to see the resemblance to the scene of a teenage girl absorbed in social media on their smartphone," reports Vice.