![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_Robert-Burns.jpg\")
Robert Burns is regarded as Scotland’s national poet(Image: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)<\/p>\nA painting of Robert Burns and ‘Highland Mary’ has caused a stir among social media users after some claimed the image shows the Scottish poet holding an iPhoneRobert Burns is regarded as Scotland’s national poet(Image: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
A 19th Century painting has ignited theories of time travel due to its apparent depiction of an iPhone<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Betrothal of Burns and Highland Mary, completed circa 1882 by R. Josey and James Archer, portrays the globally renowned Scottish bard Robert Burns<\/a> and his sweetheart, Mary Campbell, professing their love for each other.<\/p>\n The artwork features the couple standing by the River Ayr, exchanging glances, each holding a dark-coloured rectangle with rounded corners that bears a striking resemblance to an early iPhone model.<\/p>\n This peculiar detail has given art enthusiasts food for thought, leading some to speculate whether Scotland’s national poet possessed clandestine time-travelling abilities \u2013 especially considering the image predates the iconic smartphone by a staggering 125 years, reports the Daily Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n Could Highland Mary have been scrutinising Burns’ Instagram DMs?<\/p>\n Or perhaps the poet was sharing a meme with his beloved?<\/p>\n If you’re convinced of time travel by this painting, there might be a straightforward explanation for the enigmatic object.<\/p>\n Burns and his lover famously met to pledge their intent to wed by the west Scotland river in 1786, marking the event with an age-old Scottish custom \u2013 exchanging Bibles over a flowing stream.<\/p>\n Thus, it appears the mysterious black rectangle could likely be a religious book rather than an uncanny foreshadowing of future technology.<\/p>\n However, this isn’t the first instance of smartphones seemingly cropping up in historical artworks.<\/p>\n It was previously revealed that sharp-eyed art enthusiasts had noticed what seemed to be an iPhone in a painting from nearly 90 years ago.<\/p>\n Umberto Romano’s Mr Pynchon And The Settling Of Springfield was painted in 1937, a good 70 years prior to the launch of Apple’s first smartphone.<\/p>\n Despite this chronological incongruity, observers are adamant they can spot a man in the bottom right corner of the mural holding what appears to be a distinctly contemporary device to his face, even cradling it in his hand with his thumb free, much like one would while scrolling through an ex-partner’s new flame on social media or swiping on Tinder.<\/p>\n Speculation abounds as to what the mobile-like object could be, with suggestions ranging from a knife to a mirror.<\/p>\n Romano passed away in 1982 \u2013 before mobile phones became commonplace \u2013 so we may never truly uncover what this seemingly anachronistic piece of tech was intended to represent.<\/p>\n![\"Engraving](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_The-Betrothal-Of-Robert-Burns-And-Highland-Mary.jpg\")
Many believe that the legendary bard is handing his beloved Mary a high tech smartphone(Image: Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Painting](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_Settling_of_Springfield_Painting.jpg\")
Umberto Romano’s Mr Pynchon And The Settling Of Springfield also sparked conspiracy theories(Image: US Postal Service)<\/p>\n