GoKawiilHow Han van Meegeren's forged 'Vermeer' saved him from a death sentence
Dutch painter Han van Meegeren spent over a decade forging paintings attributed to Jan Vermeer, deceiving art critics, collectors and even Nazi official Hermann Göring. After liberation, authorities traced one of these forgeries back to van Meegeren and charged him with collaborating with the Nazis by selling national treasures, a crime punishable by death. To prove his innocence, he was allowed to paint a new forgery under supervision of court-appointed witnesses.