The user posted a painting by the English artist Joshua Reynolds depicting a man surrounded by two women. “I’ve found the 18th century equivalent to the distracted boyfriend meme,” the guy wrote under the photo.
The tweet went viral, gathering over 192 thousand likes and almost 62 thousand reposts.
People started coming up with their own interpretations of the image. Some said that the man was trying to choose between his wife and a mistress or between romantic love and stable relationship.
The painting by painter Joshua Reynolds portrays the English actor David Garrick between the muse of Tragedy and Comedy. The canvas, in the style of rococo, was made in the early 60-ies.
The meme about the distracted boyfriend appeared in the summer of 2017. In the photo, a young man is seen walking with his girlfriend, but then turns back to look at another girl passing by.