Lionel Messi Spotted In Ancient Painting At Amsterdam Museum

It's often said Lionel Messi is an artist and the pitch is merely his canvas while football is his painting but it appears the Barcelona ace has been painted. Well, we wish it was.

Visitors of the museum in the Netherlands noticed the self portrait by the Dutch artist Adriaen Van der Werff.

A painting of a man in the renowned Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, has an eerie resemblance to that of the Argentine forward. Judge for yourself...

Messi, is that you?!

Van der Werff, who was born close to Rotterdam over 350 years ago in 1659, is a respected painter, sculptor and architect. While Spanish outlet SPORT jokingly claim that Van der Werff could be an ancestor of the Barca star.

As well as saying that the iconic piece of art has led to a increase amount of visitors who have been fascinated by the painting to see if the five time Ballon d'Or winner family lineage really comes from the Netherlands.

Topics: Barcelona, Lionel Messi

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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