Part 1 of 5 · freeIntroduction
On October 29, 1947, reporters crowded into an Amsterdam courtroom. A wealthy painter, Han van Meegeren, was on trial as a Nazi collaborator. The main charge: selling Hermann Göring a priceless painting by Vermeer during the occupation.
His defense was a confession: he had painted that Vermeer himself. He also claimed to have made the Supper at Emmaus in the Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam. Abraham Bredius, the leading Vermeer expert, denied it: for him, it was a genuine early work by the master. Facing the death penalty, Van Meegeren had to overturn a verdict the art world had already accepted: to save his life, prove he was a master forger.
The rest is in the Sophia app.The remaining parts, the open-book quiz and the full glossary. Free to start; Premium unlocks everything.
- 2A failed painter turned forger
- 3The recipe for a fake Vermeer
- 4Fooling Göring
- 5From swindler to folk hero
Open-book quiz8 questions whose answers are in the text.
Glossary7 terms explained in a tap.
30 languagesThe same course, from French to Japanese.
