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A piece of art at the National Gallery in London has fueled theories of possible time travel on the internet after tourists notice that the boy in the painting appears to be wearing a pair of Nike shoes.
The portrait, painted by Ferdinand Bol in the 17th century, shows an eight-year-old boy holding a goblet whilst wearing a suit, cloak and black shoes. However, upon closer inspection, visitor Fiona Foskett (57) noticed what appears to be Nike’s trademark white swoosh on the boy’s shoes.
“I was looking at the painting and the trainers really stuck out to me. I said to my daughter, ‘Hold on, is he wearing a pair of Nike trainers?''” Fiona told The Sun.
The National Gallery has since uploaded a Tweet to gather people’s responses to the alleged 400-year-old Nike shoes. They told users to “Take a closer look at his shoes and [...] spot what looks like a more ‘modern’ detail.”
Some, including Fiona herself, believe that this was the work of a time traveller. One user replied to the tweet with a picture of a Delorean, a reference to the science-fiction movie Back to the Future.
The painting has since been referred to by the gallery as “one of Bol’s finest portraits”.
Interestingly, the boy is said to be Frederick Sluysken, who is the second cousin of Bol's wife.
Regardless, art critics have been left confused by this less-than-contemporary detail on the portrait.
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