Barcelona star Lionel Messi is arguably the finest footballer of his generations and constantly compared to football greats like Diego Maradona and Pele.
The
29-year-old has won the FIFA Ballon D’Or title a record five times and
may still win more before he retires from the beautiful game. His
footballing brain marvels the watching world and many have argued that
he is a special alien sent to the world to entertain.
They may not
be far from the truth as a portrait made in 1697 captured an image that
looks like the Argentine. Tourists who visited Amsterdam observed that a
self-portrait by Dutch painter Adriaen van der Werff at the Rijksmuseum
looks an awful lot like Lionel Messi.
According to Wikipedia: “Adriaen van der Werff was born, 21 January 1659 and was an accomplished Dutch painter of portraits and erotic, devotional and mythological scenes.
“He
became one of the most lauded Dutch painters of his day, gaining a
European reputation and an enormous fortune. Arnold Houbraken, writing
in 1718, considered him the greatest of the Dutch painters and this was
the prevailing critical opinion throughout the 18th century: however,
his reputation suffered in the 19th century, when he was alleged to have
betrayed the Dutch naturalistic tradition.
“In the Victorian Age people could not appreciate his art, so most of his work went into the cellars of the Alte Pinakothek.
“He died on 12 November 1722, aged 63.”
Messi
is current out injured but will definitely be fascinated by this
findings and may just have time to visit Amsterdam himself.
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