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Art experts at the Science Museum think they may have found the world's oldest painting to feature a watch in a hitherto unknown picture of a member of the influential Medici familySince obtaining the painting 33 years ago, it has simply been known as a depiction of an Italian nobleman holding an intriguing golden timepiece. After finding a seal containing the Medici coat-of-arms on the back, curators concluded it could be a portrait of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Duke of Florence and Grand Duke of Tuscany (1519-1574).
However, it may be significant for another reason as experts have suggested it "may well be the oldest to show a true watch".
Rob Skitmore, a Science Museum curator, said: "The watch itself would have been a virtuoso piece at that time, probably made in southern Germany, and the picture also shows its separate alarm mechanism that was used with it at night.
"As Cosimo was a great patron of science and technology, it is entirely likely he would have owned a watch of this kind which he displays here with pride."
Cosimo, a tyrannical ruler, nevertheless founded the Uffizi art gallery in Florence, which houses such masterpieces as The Birth of Venus by Botticelli and Raphael's Madonna of the Goldfinch.
The work is believed to be one by the Renaissance artist Maso da San Friano, and on the basis of costume studies, to have been painted around 1560.
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