Trial_and_prison_sentence Han_van_Meegeren

evidence against han van meegeren: collection of pigments.

the court commissioned international group of experts address authenticity of van meegeren s paintings. commission included curators, professors, , doctors netherlands, belgium, , england, , led director of chemical laboratory @ royal museums of fine arts of belgium, paul b. coremans. commission examined 8 vermeer , frans hals paintings van meegeren had identified forgeries. of commission, dr. coremans able determine chemical composition of van meegeren s paints. found van meegeren had prepared paints using phenolformaldehyde resins bakelite , albertol paint hardeners. bottle ingredient had been found in van meegeren s studio. chemical component introduced , manufactured in 20th century, proving vermeers , frans halses examined commission in fact made van meegeren. commission s other findings suggested dust in craquelure homogeneous of natural origin. matter found in craquelure appeared come india ink, had accumulated in areas natural dirt or dust never have reached. paint had become hard alcohol, strong acids, , bases did not attack surface, clear indication surface had not been formed in natural manner. craquelure on surface did not match in ground layer, have been case natural craquelure. thus, test results obtained commission appeared confirm works forgeries created van meegeren, authenticity continued debated of experts until 1967 , 1977, when new investigative techniques used analyze paintings (see below).

on 12 november 1947, fourth chamber of amsterdam regional court found han van meegeren guilty of forgery , fraud, , sentenced him minimal 1 year in prison.