: To prove his extraordinary claim, van Meegeren is given tools and ordered to paint another "Vermeer" under guard to demonstrate his technique. By proving the works were fakes, his charge is reduced from treason to fraud, and he is hailed by the public as a folk hero who fooled the Nazi elite. Key Characters

: Piller traces the sale back to a flamboyant and decadent Dutch artist and art dealer named Han van Meegeren. Van Meegeren is arrested and accused of treason—a crime punishable by death—for selling a Dutch national treasure to the enemy.

: To save himself from the firing squad, van Meegeren shocks the court by confessing that the painting sold to Göring was not a 17th-century masterpiece but a forgery he painted himself. He claims he did not collaborate with the Nazis, but rather swindled them out of millions.