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Art Mysteries · 1937–1947

The man who invented a Vermeer

A newly discovered masterpiece became a museum prize. Its maker was alive, and the discovery was a fraud.

Rotterdam and Amsterdam, NetherlandsForgery exposed; conviction for forgery and fraud
Han van Meegeren, The Supper at Emmaus (1937): the forgery once attributed to Vermeer.
Han van Meegeren, The Supper at Emmaus (1937): the forgery once attributed to Vermeer. Han van Meegeren, The Supper at Emmaus (1937). Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, St 1; public-domain artwork. ↗

A masterpiece with a living author

In 1937 Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen acquired The Supper at Emmaus believing it to be an exceptional work by Johannes Vermeer. The painting had instead been made that year by Han van Meegeren. It was more than a copy of a familiar picture: he created a composition that could be presented as an unfamiliar part of an Old Master’s career. The museum now identifies the work openly as his forgery. Its presence in a collection records the deception, rather than continuing the original attribution. [1]

A confession that reversed the case

After the war, another supposed Vermeer, Christ and the Adulteress, was traced to Hermann Göring’s collection. Van Meegeren was arrested in 1945 on suspicion of collaborating with the Nazis by selling Dutch cultural heritage. He responded that the painting was his own fake. That claim did not itself settle authenticity. A committee led by Paul Coremans examined the pictures, using technical evidence including X-radiographs to test their materials and construction. The story’s extraordinary reversal still required an investigation. [2][3]

The surface and what lay beneath

The scientific inquiry compared apparent surface cracking with what appeared in X-rays. Such details could challenge the impression of age created for the viewer. Van Meegeren had also used a hardening material associated with Bakelite to defeat tests then used to distinguish fresh paint. He was ultimately convicted of forgery and fraud and received a one-year sentence; he died in 1947 before serving it. The case is resolved as a forgery, but it leaves a lasting question for the viewer: how much of a masterpiece’s authority comes from the image, and how much from the name attached to it? [2][3]

What is established · what remains open

Forgery exposed; conviction for forgery and fraud

The Supper at Emmaus is a documented Van Meegeren forgery. The criminal conviction concerned forgery and fraud; the earlier suspicion of collaboration must not be presented as the final verdict.

Artwork Details & DocumentationIdentification, ownership history and supporting records

Individual artwork identification details have not yet been documented in this record. Missing specifications are not inferred from the photograph or report headline.

Not documented in this record: object type · materials & technique · measurements · inscriptions & markings · distinguishing features · artwork title · maker / attribution · creation date / period · subject.

Record sources

Identification details follow the Object ID categories where documented. Ownership history is recorded separately; this documentation is not an authentication or a certificate of ownership.

Sources & documentation

  1. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen: The Supper at Emmaus ↗
  2. Winterthur Museum: Fooling the Experts ↗
  3. RKD: technical investigation of Van Meegeren’s forgeries ↗

An original ArtTraceX feature based on the cited sources, checked 9 November 2026. Legends and hypotheses are distinguished from established facts. Images are identified in their captions.

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