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00:00The Mayor
00:29The Mayor is the ultimate enigma.
00:32He created some of the world's most treasured paintings,
00:35including The Girl with a Pearl Earring.
00:38But we know very little about him.
00:41In fact, for two centuries,
00:43his masterpieces were largely forgotten.
00:47But an intrepid French explorer in the 19th century
00:50managed to hunt them down in hidden locations
00:53where they'd been scattered across Europe.
00:57You don't hear people making these pilgrimages for most artists.
01:01And what is it about Vermeer that encourages this need?
01:07Slowly but surely,
01:09Vermeer came to be appreciated
01:10for the artistic genius that he was.
01:14Vermeer is one of the most enigmatic Dutch artists of the 17th century.
01:19Once you see a Vermeer, you never forget it.
01:22And you never forget where you saw it.
01:24However, the process of reclaiming his paintings
01:29has been fraught with peril.
01:32One of the most successful forgers of all time,
01:35Han van Meegren,
01:36managed to fool the experts for years
01:38with his collection of fake Vermeers.
01:41His trial was a media sensation
01:44that rocked the art world.
01:46It seems astonishing to us now
01:49that we were fooled by the van Meegren fakes.
01:51It's wishful thinking.
01:53You really want a painting to be Vermeer.
01:56If you just want it, you know, it will be.
01:58He was just a brilliant psychologist
02:00and he understood that scholars would think,
02:02we've always been expecting to find these
02:05and here they are.
02:05There are very few genuine Vermeers around
02:10and many have been lost to us once again,
02:13being stolen by members of the IRA and the Boston mob.
02:17It would appear that they were very selective in what they took.
02:19Even Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering
02:23were looking to get their hands on Vermeers
02:25by whatever means necessary.
02:28Hitler managed to get a hold of two.
02:30Goering was sold a fake, made by van Meegren.
02:35The forgeries have made life difficult
02:37when it comes to the work of the Dutch master.
02:40If you would discover a genuine Vermeer,
02:43it would make your day.
02:45But you have to be really careful.
02:47It's been an epic struggle
02:48to reclaim the works of Johannes Vermeer
02:51from their hidden locations
02:52and from the thieves that took them.
02:55That struggle continues today.
03:09At the end of World War II,
03:12Joseph Piller, a Jewish resistance hero,
03:15was tasked with hunting down SS and Gestapo members
03:18after the liberation of the Netherlands.
03:21He also managed to track down Han van Meegren,
03:24a very wealthy resident of Amsterdam
03:26who he discovered had been behind the sails
03:29of many recently rediscovered Vermeers.
03:32But one of those sails
03:34had been made to the Nazi leader Hermann Goering,
03:36and van Meegren was accused of collaboration.
03:40Are you going to answer the question, Mr. van Meegren?
03:52My father told me
03:54I would never amount to anything.
04:00He didn't approve of your career?
04:01Yeah.
04:02I know nothing, he used to say.
04:11I'm capable of nothing.
04:14Well, he was wrong, wasn't he?
04:17Man doesn't acquire 50 houses.
04:1952.
04:20Yes, 52.
04:21Yes, 52.
04:25You had to be clever to do what you did.
04:29Yes.
04:32Where did they come from, Mr. van Meegren?
04:36Where did you find the Vermeers?
04:37But what Pilla didn't know
04:48was that van Meegren
04:49was one of the most successful art forgers of all time.
05:02Just like Johannes Vermeer himself,
05:04van Meegren lived and worked in the city of Delft.
05:07And was also an artist.
05:10But he was chastised by art critics at the time.
05:13They said his style
05:14was just an imitation of the old masters.
05:17Van Meegren decided to retaliate
05:20by proving that he could imitate them so accurately
05:22that even the experts would be fooled.
05:26I think he had two motives.
05:29One was obviously money.
05:31It was a way of earning some money
05:33by making these fakes.
05:35But I also think he wanted to get his own back
05:37on the art world.
05:39They didn't like his art.
05:42So he thought he would do something
05:43to get his own back on the critics.
05:45Van Meegren was a Dutch Delft architect
05:48who has made some buildings in Delft as well.
05:51So around the Delft,
05:53you will find some real van Meegrens.
05:56There are buildings alongside canals.
05:58Van Meegren discovered
05:59that he could make wonderful Vermeers
06:01with the kind of paint Vermeer used in his time.
06:06And people from that era liked it very much
06:08and thought the possibility to own a real Vermeer.
06:12Han van Meegren made forgeries of other artists.
06:17But it was the fact
06:17that Johannes Vermeer was such a mystery
06:19that allowed these fakes to be so successful.
06:27Johannes Vermeer was born in Delft in 1632,
06:32exactly 300 years before van Meegren started his fakes.
06:36He joined the Artistic Guild of St. Luke
06:39and may have been taught by another celebrated artist
06:41who worked in Delft, Carol Fabricius.
06:45Fabricius was Rembrandt's greatest pupil,
06:48but was tragically killed at the age of 32
06:50when a gunpowder store exploded in Delft,
06:54destroying much of the city.
06:56The event became known as the Delft Thunderclap.
07:00Vermeer survived the gunpowder explosion
07:02and started working on his paintings,
07:04including a view of Delft made six years after the tragedy.
07:11We know very little about his life.
07:14He actually ran an inn or a tavern
07:17in the town of Delft outside The Hague.
07:20The city of Delft in the 7th century was very rich.
07:24We did business all over the world,
07:26wonderful buildings, already stone,
07:29but also a lot of wooden houses.
07:32He was a Dutch Golden Age painter,
07:33that great flowering of the Dutch Republic.
07:36We think Vermeer was in the middle class of people.
07:39His mother-in-law was very rich, of course.
07:42His father had two inns.
07:45It always sounds as though he suffered from his father,
07:47who had been a cloth worker and dealer
07:50and became a tavern keeper and killed a soldier
07:52and generally sounds like a rogue.
07:54He married a Catholic, had 15 children,
07:57and 11 of which survived.
08:00One imagines his life didn't look anything like a Vermeer.
08:03Maybe that was the point.
08:04We have no definitive pictures of Johannes Vermeer,
08:07but it's believed by scholars
08:09that he may have painted himself
08:10into one of his early works,
08:13The Procureus.
08:14It's a genre scene where you have a figure in the background
08:17and he looks like a painter
08:19and, you know, he may be Vermeer.
08:22I like to think it is Vermeer,
08:23but, you know, we don't know that for sure.
08:27Vermeer may also have painted himself
08:29into one of his later works,
08:31The Art of Painting.
08:32He had other jobs, so, you know,
08:34he earned his money as a painter,
08:35but he had an inn and he dealt in art,
08:39so he was an art dealer.
08:40He had 11 children with his wife.
08:43He was also an innkeeper.
08:46He had the two inns of his father.
08:48He was a seller of antiques and that kind of thing,
08:51and he was a painter as well.
08:53How the poor man found him to paint at all is a miracle.
08:56Some very successful artists, like Rembrandt,
08:59had a studio and employed a lot of assistants
09:01who would work doing some menial tasks,
09:04but Vermeer seems to have worked just by himself,
09:08and that's probably a reflection
09:09in both of the way he wanted to work
09:11and the fact that he didn't earn very much money.
09:14You know, there's a great idea
09:15that great suffering makes great art.
09:20Vermeer's unique way of working
09:21and the materials he used
09:23seem to explain why there are so precious few examples
09:26of his paintings in the world today.
09:29I think it's a combination of two reasons
09:32why we have such a very small output.
09:34One is that we simply don't have the paintings,
09:37that they were lost,
09:38because, of course, a lot of pictures do get lost,
09:42and some of his must have done.
09:43The other thing is he probably did work very slowly.
09:46I mean, they're very meticulously and carefully painted.
09:50He painted using lapis lazuli quite a lot,
09:52and he painted gem-like pictures
09:55that were made out of gems often.
09:57Vermeer used very expensive colours,
10:00the stone lapis lazuli.
10:03In those years, it was very expensive.
10:05Because he produced so little,
10:07he probably didn't earn a great deal.
10:10And there were also economic problems
10:12in the Netherlands at the time,
10:14and when he died, he was in debt.
10:17Vermeer died in Delft at the age of just 43.
10:21His reputation as an artist
10:22did not extend much beyond his hometown,
10:25and his name faded into obscurity very quickly,
10:29along with his paintings.
10:31It was not until almost two centuries later
10:33that he finally got the recognition that he deserved,
10:37when a French exile made it his mission
10:39to bring Vermeer to the world.
10:42Johannes Vermeer lived and painted
10:53in the city of Delft, near The Hague.
10:55But his reputation as an artist
10:57didn't extend much beyond the city he worked in.
11:00And when he died at the age of 43,
11:03it seemed Vermeer had missed his chance
11:05to be considered one of history's greatest artists.
11:08I don't imagine that his pictures sold for much,
11:13and there weren't very many of them.
11:14If you're painting probably two pictures a year,
11:17that's not like being Picasso.
11:19In those times, Rembrandt and some other painters
11:22also in Delft, Vermeer, Veld, and Pieter de Hoogh,
11:25for instance, sold a lot more paintings
11:28to other people than Vermeer did.
11:31The volume of the work available
11:32is a key component in this,
11:35even accounting for ones that may have been lost
11:37or destroyed even.
11:39It's still a relatively small output
11:42for someone who was an artist for over 20 years.
11:44In those years, it was not very common
11:46to like a Vermeer.
11:48The prices which were paid on the selling in Amsterdam
11:52were also not so very high, for instance.
11:55There were no paintings by Vermeer
11:56in French public collections.
11:58I think the Vermeer in the Maudshuis
12:00was the first Vermeer to enter
12:02a public collection in the Netherlands.
12:04So if you have these paintings in private collections,
12:07if you had good contacts, you could go there.
12:10But it's different from a museum.
12:12There were a few collectors of his work
12:14and they were saved by them.
12:16Often they were later attributed to other artists,
12:20not to Vermeer.
12:21And then Vermeer was rediscovered
12:24in the mid-19th century.
12:29Vermeer's rediscovery was due to a French exile
12:32named Théophile Torrey,
12:34who found himself captivated by the paintings.
12:38Torrey made it his life's work
12:40to track down as many Vermeers as he could.
12:43It wasn't going to be an easy task, though.
12:46After Vermeer's death,
12:47his paintings had scattered across Europe
12:49and were often incorrectly listed
12:51as the work of far better-known artists at the time.
12:55Many of them would end up in royal possession.
13:01In 1742,
13:03a girl reading a letter by an open window
13:06was acquired for Augustus III,
13:09the King of Poland,
13:10with the belief
13:11that it was a painting by Rembrandt.
13:13The music lesson
13:15was also bought by a king in 1762
13:18when it was purchased
13:19for King George III of England.
13:22It entered the royal collection
13:24at Buckingham Palace,
13:25where it was listed
13:26as being by Franz van Mieris.
13:29In 1802,
13:30the guitar player
13:31became the property of Lord Palmerston,
13:34who would go on
13:35to become prime minister
13:36of the United Kingdom.
13:38The art of painting,
13:40Vermeer's most treasured item
13:41that he always kept in his possession,
13:44would end up being listed
13:45as a work by Peter de Hooch.
13:47It travelled to Vienna,
13:49where it became part
13:50of the House of Cern in collection
13:51in 1813.
13:54The little street
13:55and the milkmaid
13:57stayed in the Netherlands, though,
13:59when they entered the collection
14:01of the aristocratic Dutch family,
14:03the Sixes,
14:04at the House of Six
14:05in Amsterdam.
14:11The first one I saw
14:26was at The Hague.
14:28The brilliance of the light,
14:31the intensity of the colour,
14:32both real
14:33and utterly original.
14:35I had to know
14:37who painted it.
14:40He went to
14:42the Margaret's House
14:43in The Hague
14:44in 1842,
14:46saw this huge
14:47panorama
14:48on Delft,
14:50and, well,
14:50he was blown away
14:51immediately
14:52by this incredible painting.
14:54The view of Delft
14:55is an amazing picture,
14:57very beautifully painted.
14:59I can see that
15:00it was a landscape
15:01which would certainly
15:02have appealed
15:02to people
15:04in the 19th century.
15:06I searched
15:07every gallery
15:08in Holland I knew,
15:09every one.
15:10I found two more
15:11in private collections.
15:13Again,
15:14simply astounding work.
15:16This was art
15:17concerned with the real.
15:21Servants at work.
15:23The town where he lived,
15:24unadorned.
15:26This was art
15:27for man.
15:29He travelled
15:30all over the place
15:32and discovered
15:32new paintings.
15:33The only thing
15:34I can get to know
15:35is by reading
15:36what he left us
15:37and it's almost
15:38a diary
15:39of his travels.
15:40He drew up
15:41a list of works
15:42which he felt
15:43were by Vermeer
15:44and identified
15:45quite a lot of them
15:46for the first time.
15:49We had wondered
15:50what you got up to
15:51during your time away.
15:53A mistress or two,
15:54my brother thought.
15:54Ha, ha, ha, ha.
15:58We never thought
15:59you'd fallen in love.
16:00Love is selfish, Isaac.
16:05I could not keep
16:06Vermeer to myself.
16:08In fact,
16:09that was the reason
16:11I asked you here.
16:17Isaac Pereira
16:18was a wealthy
16:19Parisian financier
16:21and art collector.
16:22Touré hoped
16:23that he could convince
16:24Pereira
16:24to purchase
16:25one of the Vermeers
16:26he'd found.
16:27It was 1866
16:30and Touré
16:31was publishing
16:32his findings
16:33in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts.
16:35This was for him
16:36like the starting point
16:38for like
16:39you have a
16:39remord research project,
16:41he had a Vermeer
16:42research project
16:43and I think
16:43it took him
16:44the rest of his life
16:45to do this.
16:47He wrote an article
16:48in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts
16:49which is a kind
16:51of groundbreaking
16:52essay
16:53on Vermeer,
16:55his earth
16:55and his life.
16:581866
16:59is sort of
16:59the key date.
17:00He was published
17:01in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts
17:02which increased
17:03everyone's awareness
17:04of him
17:06as an artist
17:06and of his works.
17:09He really writes
17:10everything.
17:11How he went
17:11to the Hague,
17:12how he saw
17:13the painting,
17:14how he had never
17:15heard of
17:15Van der Meer
17:16of the Delft.
17:18Torre had actually
17:19bought several
17:20Vermeers for himself
17:21during his travels
17:22but he was hoping
17:24that Perea
17:25would purchase
17:25the Geographer
17:26to help establish
17:28Vermeer's name.
17:34A Vermeer
17:35in your collection
17:36would transform
17:37the way people
17:38think of him.
17:41See how the scholar
17:42grips the book
17:43as if caught
17:43in the very moment
17:45of inspiration.
17:45he doesn't want
17:46to let it go.
17:48And his understanding
17:50of light, Isaac.
17:52It is a very fine piece.
17:54This doesn't do it justice.
17:58The scholar's cloak
17:59is blue
17:59but the deepest blue
18:01you could imagine.
18:04You must have it.
18:06You must.
18:10I'm sorry.
18:11I'm sorry.
18:15Perea would soon
18:17be persuaded
18:18though
18:18and Vermeers
18:19would quickly
18:20become a must-have item
18:21for the world's
18:22wealthiest collectors.
18:25Perea was a very well-known collector.
18:28You have the publication
18:29in the Gazette de Bozart
18:30so all the connoisseurs
18:33read that.
18:34Of course
18:35all the collectors
18:35read this
18:36and if there is
18:37a new discovery
18:38of a new name
18:40then of course
18:40everybody wants
18:41to own a Vermeer
18:42and Perea
18:43was no exception
18:44to that.
18:47Why don't you
18:48buy it yourself?
18:51The old master
18:51has demanded
18:52much of me.
18:53He needs
18:57new advocates
18:58now.
19:02Well he could
19:03have no finer
19:03ally
19:04and none
19:07more persuasive.
19:12Show it
19:12to me again.
19:19It was thanks
19:20to Tory
19:21that we
19:22really
19:22rediscovered
19:23Vermeer
19:24and that
19:24sort of
19:25put him
19:25on the map
19:25if you like
19:26and then
19:27he became
19:27very collectible
19:28in the 20th century.
19:30But of course
19:31at that time
19:31it was very hard
19:32to come by
19:33so these paintings
19:34were really expensive
19:35and we know
19:37that at that time
19:37even forgeries
19:38were made
19:39in the early 20th century.
19:43Forgeries
19:44had started
19:45to appear
19:45but real discoveries
19:46were still being made.
19:49Tory had identified
19:50many of the Vermeers
19:51he found
19:51by the subtle
19:52and varying signatures
19:54that the artist
19:55used.
19:56That signature
19:57was then found
19:58on two paintings
19:59in the early 20th century
20:00Diana and her companions
20:02and Christ in the house
20:04with Mary and Martha.
20:06They were very different
20:07from most of his known works
20:09and if they didn't have signatures
20:10it's unlikely
20:11they would ever have been
20:13attributed to Vermeer.
20:16Surprisingly
20:17Vermeer's most famous work
20:19the girl with a pearl earring
20:20was not identified
20:22by Tauré
20:23before he died
20:24in 1869.
20:26However
20:26it had not gone unnoticed
20:29by those who had seen it.
20:32The girl with a pearl earring
20:33is a fascinating story
20:35and as we know
20:36it was sold
20:36for six guilders
20:38or something incredible.
20:40Actually it turns out
20:42it was
20:42more recognised
20:43at that time
20:44than you would think
20:45because it was
20:47from very early on
20:48really greatly admired
20:50by novelists.
20:52These are actually novelists
20:53who are writing stories
20:54stories about travelling
20:55through the Netherlands.
20:56Early on
20:57it was recognised
20:58and then slowly
20:59becomes written about
21:00among the art historians
21:02of the world.
21:04The art historians
21:05believed that there were
21:06still more Vermeers
21:07to be found though
21:08especially
21:09from his early career
21:11and Han van Meegren
21:12saw an opportunity.
21:14his Vermeer fakes
21:16made in the 1930s
21:17were hugely successful
21:19and his career
21:21as an art forger
21:22would have probably
21:22continued
21:23if he hadn't sold
21:24one of them
21:25to Hermann Goering.
21:29Sir!
21:31Goering's man.
21:32He's been found.
21:35Has he talked yet?
21:36I don't know sir.
21:37That's all we have.
21:37Han van Meegren
21:45in a desperate attempt
21:46to save his own skin
21:48was about to send
21:49the art world
21:50into a panic
21:51when he revealed
21:52his deception.
21:54He was put on trial
21:55where he had to prove
21:56himself guilty of forgery
21:58rather than face conviction
22:00of Nazi collaboration.
22:02When World War II
22:14came to an end
22:15it was discovered
22:16that Hitler
22:17had stashed away
22:18many priceless artworks
22:20for his own
22:20private collection.
22:22He'd even managed
22:23to get hold
22:24of two Vermeers
22:25including the astronomer
22:26and the art of painting.
22:28Hermann Goering
22:32it seemed
22:32had also got hold
22:33of a Vermeer
22:34and the trail
22:35led right back
22:36to Han van Meegren.
22:44Your German friend
22:45Meedle
22:46he's been arrested
22:48hiding in Spain.
22:50He's no friend of mine.
22:51Well he's had plenty
22:52to say about you.
22:55Van Meegren
22:56was accused
22:57of selling
22:58a painting
23:00to Goering
23:00and collaborating
23:02with the Nazis.
23:04Unusually for Goering
23:05he actually paid for it
23:06a relatively decent
23:07sum of money
23:07from an art dealer
23:08who either genuinely
23:10believed
23:11that it was a Vermeer
23:12or must have been
23:13crapping his pants.
23:14I mean really
23:14knowing that he was
23:15selling a fake
23:16to Goering
23:18isn't a very safe
23:19thing to do.
23:20And in order
23:20to avoid that charge
23:22he said that
23:23he'd sold a fake.
23:25So this is how
23:26the whole thing
23:26came out
23:27into the open.
23:31He says
23:32that you came
23:33to him
23:33Goering's art dealer
23:36with the sole purpose
23:38of doing business
23:39with the Nazis.
23:39That is a lie.
23:40You swear to it.
23:42Isn't that right?
23:43Yes sir.
23:44On oath.
23:47He's lie.
23:49No he isn't.
23:50The simple fact
23:53Mr. Van Miegeren
23:54is we don't need
23:55to talk to you anymore.
23:57This will convict you
23:59for collaboration.
24:06Though naturally
24:07any cooperation
24:08you might offer
24:08at this point
24:09would be considered
24:10when it came
24:10to sentencing.
24:13Where did you get
24:14the Vermeers
24:14Mr. Van Miegeren?
24:18Where did you
24:18take them from?
24:21Who helped you?
24:22No one.
24:27No one helped me.
24:29I did it.
24:41I painted them.
24:50I painted them all.
24:59Being accused of forgery
25:07was a far lesser crime
25:08than collaboration
25:09with the Nazis.
25:11But Van Miegeren
25:12would have to prove
25:13that these newly
25:14discovered Vermeers
25:15were in fact fakes.
25:19And so a trial
25:20was conducted
25:21where oddly
25:22Van Miegeren
25:22had to prove himself
25:24guilty
25:24rather than innocent
25:25of a crime.
25:29It seems astonishing
25:32to us now
25:32that we were fooled
25:33by the Van Miegeren
25:35fakes.
25:36But they were
25:37accepted by
25:38some of the top
25:40experts in Dutch art
25:41including Bredius.
25:43And once
25:45one or two experts
25:46had accepted
25:47the others seemed to.
25:48The touch
25:49Vermeers used
25:50just not
25:52to make something
25:54Vermeers
25:55very famous for
25:56but making it
25:58look like
25:58it could be
25:59a Vermeer.
26:01People were
26:01so eager
26:02to have
26:02those paintings.
26:05It is not easy
26:06to admit
26:06when you've been
26:07made a fool of.
26:11You laid a trap
26:12for us
26:12Mr. Van Miegeren.
26:14It was a clever
26:15one too.
26:17We wanted
26:17to walk into it.
26:20For your works
26:21seem to
26:22give us
26:23the answer
26:24to a mystery.
26:26They filled
26:27the chasm
26:28between
26:28early Vermeers
26:29like this one
26:30and his
26:32mature
26:33masterpieces.
26:35Our search
26:36for truth
26:37and beauty
26:38blinded us
26:38and in the end
26:40we were all
26:41caught out.
26:43He did a very clever
26:43thing which was that
26:44he made
26:45Vermeers that didn't
26:46look like Vermeers
26:47and that was
26:47really sensible.
26:48You know if you'd
26:49done Girl with a Pearl
26:50brooch
26:50you could have
26:51held it up next
26:52to Girl with a Pearl
26:52and he was like
26:53I don't think so.
26:55But in those days
26:56scholars believed
26:57that Vermeer
26:58had studied in Italy
26:59which he hadn't
26:59and so what he did
27:01was he painted
27:02a Caravaggio
27:03Supper at Emmaus
27:04in the style of Vermeer
27:05and every
27:05you know
27:06scholars
27:06who saw with their
27:08brains rather than
27:09their eyes
27:09thought oh well
27:10this obviously
27:10you know we can
27:11explain this like this
27:12and people were
27:13fooled.
27:14I would like to
27:14begin my analysis
27:15if I may
27:16with the Supper
27:17at Emmaus.
27:17The pigment used
27:25by Mr. Van Miegeren
27:26although chemically
27:27identical
27:28is quite different
27:30when viewed
27:30under a microscope.
27:32It's always easy
27:33to be wise
27:34after the event
27:35because when you
27:35do a fake
27:36there's something
27:36of your own time
27:38that goes into it
27:39and later on
27:40it looks wrong.
27:41Something that
27:43everybody wanted
27:44and you can wait
27:46so I'm still
27:47waiting for the
27:48self-portraits
27:49of Vermeer
27:49to appear
27:50but you have
27:52to imagine
27:53at that point
27:53in time
27:54there were a lot
27:55of monographs
27:56the documents
27:57had been published
27:58so everybody
27:58knew that there
27:59were more
28:00paintings.
28:01They were
28:01different from
28:02the Vermeers
28:03that we now
28:04know
28:04they were
28:05early religious
28:06works
28:07it was said
28:07so Van Miegeren
28:10had tried to
28:11fill a hole
28:12in Vermeer's
28:13career.
28:15This black
28:16substance
28:17a dye
28:21of some
28:21sort
28:22imitating
28:23centuries
28:24accumulation
28:25of dirt
28:25was used
28:27to further
28:28the illusion
28:28of age.
28:31It's wishful
28:32thinking
28:32it's something
28:33you really
28:34want a painting
28:35to be
28:36Vermeer
28:36if you just
28:37want it
28:37you know
28:38it will be.
28:39It's a brilliant
28:39con
28:40you really saw
28:41what scholars
28:41were like
28:42and they would
28:42just say
28:42yes
28:43we've long
28:44suspected
28:44there would be
28:45Italianate
28:46pictures
28:46and of course
28:47he was a
28:47catholic
28:48so you know
28:48here at last.
28:50Very clever
28:51forgery
28:52meaning
28:52an old
28:53canvas
28:53was used
28:54and
28:55acolyte
28:55was used
28:56so it
28:56really had
28:57the cacolet
28:57you know
28:58the cacolet
28:59pattern
28:59that you see
29:00in old
29:00master paintings.
29:01This x-ray
29:03reveals the
29:04remnants of
29:05the original
29:05painting below
29:06a priming
29:08layer with
29:09patches
29:09of lead
29:11white paint
29:12here
29:12and here
29:14I do
29:17think he was
29:18brilliant
29:18Van Maegeren
29:18not a brilliant
29:19painter
29:20a brilliant
29:20I mean
29:21material forger
29:22but he was
29:22just a brilliant
29:23psychologist
29:24and of course
29:25the next
29:25Van Maegeren
29:26that comes along
29:26and doesn't look
29:27like Vermeer
29:27is not going
29:28to be compared
29:29with
29:29View of Elft
29:30it's going
29:30to be compared
29:31with the last
29:32Van Maegeren
29:32Van Maegeren
29:34was forced
29:35to paint
29:35a Vermeer
29:36fake in front
29:37of reporters
29:37and court
29:38appointed witnesses
29:39to show
29:40exactly how
29:41it was done
29:42I must thank
29:51Mr. Van Maegeren
29:52for his
29:54cooperation
29:54throughout this
29:55process
29:55indeed
29:59I have never
30:00known a
30:00defendant
30:00so anxious
30:01to be found
30:02guilty
30:02It's very easy
30:05for us
30:06to think
30:07these people
30:08were foolish
30:08to think
30:09it is a Vermeer
30:09because
30:09it's a terrible
30:10painting
30:11I think
30:12many people
30:13know about
30:14Vermeeren
30:15but when you
30:15ask them
30:16the real story
30:17behind it
30:17they don't know
30:18you do
30:19you do
30:19you do
30:20you do
30:20admit to
30:20painting
30:20these works
30:21yes
30:23and selling
30:24them
30:24at the
30:25exorbitant
30:25prices charged
30:26if I'd have
30:28sold them
30:29cheaply
30:29everyone would
30:30have known
30:30they were fake
30:31everyone is
30:34interested in
30:35fakers
30:35so it does
30:37give one a
30:37certain notoriety
30:38and there is
30:39a great deal
30:40of interest
30:40in Van Maegeren
30:41and some people
30:42like to have
30:43his work
30:43just because
30:44of who
30:44he was
30:45so there is
30:47a certain
30:48admiration
30:48for someone
30:49who got away
30:49with it
30:50for so long
30:50what was it
30:52that made you
30:53continue
30:53after painting
30:54Emmaus
30:54you had made
30:56your money
30:56why go on
30:58it was the
31:02satisfaction
31:05of deceiving
31:06good men
31:07like dr.
31:07Cormans
31:08of swindling
31:09them
31:10the satisfaction
31:14of perfecting
31:16my technique
31:17I couldn't
31:20stop myself
31:20so money
31:22had no
31:23influence
31:23on your
31:24decision
31:24money
31:26has brought
31:28me
31:28nothing
31:29but misery
31:30of course
31:31he's also
31:31very damaging
31:32to Vermeer's
31:33work
31:34and it's
31:34important
31:35to sort
31:35out
31:35what is
31:36the real
31:36Vermeer
31:37and what
31:37are the
31:38fakes
31:38Han Van
31:41Meegeren
31:41died
31:42soon after
31:43the trial
31:43was completed
31:44and before
31:45he served
31:46any time
31:46in prison
31:47the forgery
31:49scandal
31:49he created
31:50showed just
31:51how hard
31:52it's been
31:52to reclaim
31:53Vermeer's
31:54legacy
31:54but in the
31:56decades that
31:56followed
31:57many of the
31:58genuine articles
31:59were lost to us
31:59once again
32:00in daring
32:01heists
32:02and one
32:03is still
32:04missing
32:05Han Van
32:15Meegeren
32:15had forged
32:16numerous
32:17Vermeers
32:17for over
32:18a decade
32:18his
32:19sensational
32:20trial
32:21in 1947
32:22had proved
32:23an embarrassment
32:23for the
32:24scholars of
32:24Vermeer
32:25who had
32:25fallen
32:26for his
32:26deception
32:27and as a
32:28result
32:28one painting
32:29called
32:30A Young
32:30Woman Seated
32:31at the
32:31Virginals
32:32which had been
32:32accepted as a
32:33Vermeer since
32:341904
32:35was suddenly
32:36labelled
32:36yet another
32:37forgery
32:38it was not
32:40until the
32:4021st century
32:41that it started
32:42to be accepted
32:43once again
32:44I think that
32:47is a Vermeer
32:47I didn't think
32:49so initially
32:49although not
32:50all of what
32:51one sees
32:52is by Vermeer
32:53as far as I'm
32:53concerned
32:54there's been
32:54lots of technical
32:55analysis done
32:56in the painting
32:56and to the
32:57canvas
32:58and I think
32:59that strongly
33:00indicates
33:01I believe
33:02that it is
33:02Vermeer
33:02she has a
33:03large yellow
33:04cloak
33:05that covers
33:05the upper
33:06part of her
33:07body
33:07you can see
33:08the tin
33:08yellow
33:09underneath
33:09layer
33:10and that
33:11the modelling
33:11of the
33:12underneath layer
33:12seems to me
33:13appropriate for
33:14Vermeer
33:14whereas the
33:15modelling
33:15on the upper
33:16layer
33:16not
33:16so I think
33:17that painting
33:18was reworked
33:19at a certain
33:19point for some
33:20reason
33:20some comments
33:21could be made
33:21on the quality
33:22of for example
33:23the depiction
33:23of her arms
33:24but scientifically
33:25I think it's
33:25been proven
33:26that it is part
33:27of his work
33:28yes
33:28the young woman
33:30seated at the
33:31Virginals
33:32suddenly became
33:33the only remaining
33:34Vermeer in private
33:35hands
33:35all the others
33:37had become part
33:37of museum
33:38or state
33:39collections
33:39and over the
33:41last few decades
33:42they've been the
33:42target of some
33:43of the most
33:44notorious art
33:45thefts in history
33:46in 1971
33:48the love letter
33:49was taken from
33:50the fine arts
33:51palace in Brussels
33:52where it was on
33:53temporary exhibition
33:54it was recovered
33:56two weeks later
33:57and returned
33:57to its home
33:58at the Rijksmuseum
33:59in Amsterdam
34:00another Vermeer
34:03that was stolen
34:03in the 1970s
34:05was the guitar player
34:06once owned
34:07by Prime Minister
34:08Lord Palmerston
34:09this later work
34:10of the artist
34:11was taken
34:12from Kenwood House
34:13the guitar player
34:15was stolen
34:16in 1974
34:17Kenwood House
34:19is an isolated
34:20house
34:20in Hampstead Heath
34:22so it was a bit
34:23vulnerable
34:23at that time
34:24the person
34:25broke in
34:25through the window
34:26through the shutters
34:27into the room
34:29and stole the Vermeer
34:29specifically
34:30ran off with it
34:32wasn't caught
34:33there was various
34:34theories
34:34there's been links
34:35made to IRA
34:36and demands were made
34:38to transfer prisoners
34:39from a prison
34:40also there was
34:41a ransom note
34:42saying they were
34:42going to burn it
34:43on St Patrick's night
34:44however it ended
34:46with an anonymous
34:47tip off
34:48it was later
34:51found abandoned
34:52in a churchyard
34:54in Smithfield
34:55in central London
34:57a helpful phone call
34:58ring ring
34:59hello
34:59you don't know me
35:00but there's a
35:00there's a Vermeer
35:01in your churchyard
35:02when I arrived here
35:04about a quarter
35:04of an hour ago
35:05I found a lot
35:06of press here
35:07saying that the
35:08painting had been
35:08found
35:08and of course
35:09I was absolutely
35:10thrilled
35:10because it was
35:11so terrible
35:12as it had ever
35:12been stolen
35:13really
35:13there it was
35:14propped up
35:15against a
35:16a gravestone
35:17it was damp
35:18but relatively
35:19unharmed
35:20it has slightly
35:21suffered
35:22from the
35:23atmospheric conditions
35:24while it's been
35:25away from us
35:25and this is
35:26hardly surprising
35:27a skilled
35:28restorer
35:29will have to see
35:30to the
35:31very slight
35:32cupping
35:32of the paint
35:33surface
35:33that has occurred
35:34I seem to recall
35:36that they stole
35:36some other pictures
35:37from Kenwood
35:37and dumped them
35:38down by the lake
35:39and made off
35:40so leaving the
35:41things and wet
35:41grass wasn't
35:42unusual for them
35:43obviously not a
35:44professional thief
35:45did it
35:46there's not much
35:46point in taking
35:47a picture
35:47and then just
35:48leave it in a
35:49churchyard
35:49I should think
35:50possibly if anyone
35:51wanted to leave
35:53anything without
35:53being seen
35:54anywhere in the
35:55city of London
35:55at night
35:56it's rather a good
35:57place because it's
35:58all very deserted
35:59and very few people
35:59live round here
36:00you see
36:00it's the only
36:02Vermeer that
36:03is still on its
36:05original or very
36:06early stretcher
36:07so it is unique
36:10and it's very special
36:10and we have to take
36:12obviously extra
36:12extra care of it
36:14because it's
36:15quite fragile
36:16this picture was
36:17on its original
36:1817th century
36:18stretcher
36:19and there's no
36:20mistaking that
36:21there's no mistaking
36:22the original
36:23wooden dowels
36:24round the
36:25edge of the
36:26canvas too
36:26they are of course
36:28are the pegs
36:28that Vermeer put in
36:29today artists
36:31have used
36:31galvanised tacks
36:32so we can be
36:34absolutely certain
36:34it's amazing
36:35that this is
36:36still on its
36:37same stretcher
36:38from 1672
36:40the same year
36:42as the guitar
36:43player was stolen
36:44yet another
36:45Vermeer was taken
36:46the lady writing
36:47a letter with her
36:48maid
36:49it's the only
36:50Vermeer in Ireland
36:51and had to endure
36:52a second theft
36:53in the 1980s
36:54the lady writing
36:56a letter with her
36:57maid was stolen
36:58in Ireland
36:59in the 1970s
37:01and the IRA
37:03was involved
37:04that was at the
37:04height of the
37:05troubles
37:05that was also
37:07recovered
37:07it was stolen
37:09from Rustborough
37:09house
37:10outside Dublin
37:11there was a
37:12wonderful sort of
37:13figure of my
37:14childhood called
37:15Dr Rose Dugdale
37:16who was a sort
37:17of debutante
37:17turned IRA
37:19terrorist
37:20who you know
37:21she stole it
37:21first and they
37:22found it about
37:22a week later
37:23I think it's
37:24unfair to say
37:24the IRA was
37:25responsible
37:25no
37:26at the time
37:26Bridget Rose
37:27Dugdale
37:27and her
37:28boyfriend
37:29Eddie Gallagher
37:29were not just
37:30Irish nationalists
37:31but they were
37:31paramilitary
37:32sympathisers
37:33their big idea
37:34was to get
37:35these things
37:36and then hold
37:36them to ransom
37:37as much as you
37:37can establish a
37:38motive for the
37:39theft of those
37:39paintings
37:40both in
37:40Kenwood
37:41and at
37:42Rustborough
37:42the painting
37:42was stolen
37:43a second
37:43time
37:44in the
37:441980s
37:45by a criminal
37:47from Northern
37:48Ireland
37:49and it was
37:50recovered
37:50in Antwerp
37:52the painting
37:52is back
37:53and now
37:53at the
37:54National Gallery
37:54of Ireland
37:55in Dublin
37:56fortunately
37:57all these
37:58stolen Vermeers
37:59have been
38:00returned to
38:00their rightful
38:01homes
38:02but one
38:03is still
38:03missing
38:04the concert
38:05this was
38:06taken from
38:07the Isabella
38:07Stewart Gardner
38:08Museum in
38:09Boston
38:09along with
38:10the painting
38:11by one of
38:11Vermeer's
38:12contemporaries
38:13Rembrandt
38:14in one of
38:15the most daring
38:15art thefts
38:16of all time
38:17the concert
38:18was taken
38:19in 1990
38:20along with
38:22Rembrandt
38:23and a number
38:24of other
38:24important works
38:25from the
38:25Isabella Stewart
38:27Gardner Museum
38:28in Boston
38:28on the night
38:30of St. Patrick's
38:30Day
38:311990
38:31two Boston
38:33Police Department
38:33cops
38:34turned up
38:35at the museum
38:36banged on the door
38:36the guys walked in
38:37produced a gun
38:38tied up the two guards
38:40then spent several
38:41hours in the museum
38:41deciding what to take
38:43certainly
38:44the concert
38:45of them there
38:46and also
38:47Rembrandt's
38:48Storm on the Sea
38:49of Galilee
38:49are two exceptionally
38:50valuable paintings
38:51taken away
38:52over a matter of hours
38:54and they haven't
38:55been seen since
38:56most important
38:57works that are
38:58stolen do
38:59eventually turn up
39:00but this one
39:01is now 20
39:02or more years
39:03ago
39:04but the hunt
39:05is still on
39:06the problem
39:07has been
39:07that the FBI
39:09have gone down
39:10one road
39:11and I think
39:13there were other
39:14roads to go down
39:15for years
39:17the theft
39:18has been linked
39:18to James
39:19Whitey Bulger
39:20a notorious figure
39:21in Boston
39:22organized crime
39:23who was captured
39:24in 2011
39:26the Whitey Bulger
39:28story is the story
39:30he was the kingpin
39:31I cannot see how
39:33it's possible
39:34that Whitey did not
39:35have either at the
39:36time or certainly
39:37soon afterwards
39:38some connection
39:39to those paintings
39:40however
39:41to be fair to the FBI
39:42there is no hard
39:43evidence of that
39:44well I've been very
39:45lucky that I've
39:46actually studied
39:47every Vermeer in the
39:48world under the
39:48microscope
39:49I've seen it out
39:49of the frame
39:50and the concert
39:51I spent two days
39:53with in that way
39:54and I still have
39:55all these slides
39:55of the painting
39:56and all the kind
39:57of little magical
39:59ways in which
39:59these color highlights
40:01and it's always
40:02a huge loss
40:03that I still feel
40:04I hope it will
40:06come back
40:06I hope it will
40:07come back
40:07because for the museum
40:08it's very sad
40:09that you don't have
40:11the work itself
40:12anymore
40:12the hunt for the concert
40:14goes on
40:15but it's not the only
40:17missing Vermeer
40:17that could be out there
40:19Vermeer died in poverty
40:21and most of his works
40:22were later auctioned off
40:23in a 1696 sale
40:25of a man called
40:26Jakob Dysius
40:27who had inherited
40:2821 of Vermeer's paintings
40:31some of the works
40:32listed in the auction
40:33catalogue
40:34hadn't been found yet
40:35and include another
40:36little street
40:37and even
40:38a self-portrait
40:39of the artist
40:40I'm still looking
40:42for the self-portrait
40:44that he made
40:44because it's documented
40:46that he made one
40:47and we know
40:48there was a second
40:49little street
40:50like the painting
40:50in the Rijksmuseum
40:51so maybe paintings
40:54will turn up
40:54but it's not really
40:56the largest production
40:57It would be
40:58absolutely incredible
40:59I mean
41:00if we would be able
41:01to find one of these
41:02paintings that have
41:03been mentioned
41:04in the Dysius sale
41:05in 1696 already
41:08but have completely
41:09disappeared
41:10One painting
41:13that wasn't listed
41:14in the Dysius sale
41:15but has been attributed
41:16to Vermeer for a while
41:17is the Saint Proxedis
41:19In 2014
41:21Christie's in London
41:22auctioned the painting
41:24after announcing
41:25that technical analysis
41:26carried out
41:27at the Rijksmuseum
41:28strengthened the case
41:29that this
41:30is a genuine Vermeer
41:32Thank you
41:33we move on
41:33to lot 39
41:34Please know
41:36that there is
41:36additional literature
41:37that's been posted
41:38throughout the view
41:40lot 39
41:42the Vermeer
41:42It may even be
41:44his earliest known work
41:45as the lead isotope tests
41:47on the white paint
41:48of the Saint Proxedis
41:49indicate
41:49that the exact same
41:51batch of white paint
41:52may have been used
41:53on both this painting
41:55and Diana
41:56and her companions
41:57I actually did see the painting
41:59it was in an exhibition
42:00in Rome
42:01I think two years ago
42:02and it's a very difficult painting
42:05to attribute
42:06because this Proxedis saint
42:09she is depicted
42:11by Felice Ficcarelli
42:13an Italian painter
42:14and then there is a copy
42:15after that painting
42:16and it's very difficult
42:17if there is a copy
42:19like who made this copy
42:20The Saint Proxedis picture
42:23is very unusual
42:24and there is a signature
42:26on it which is thought
42:27to be Vermeer's
42:29and it appears to be
42:30a copy
42:31of an Italian painting
42:33and there is one scholar
42:34in America
42:35Arthur Wheelock
42:36who believes
42:37that it's an authentic Vermeer
42:38I feel very strongly
42:40it is by Vermeer
42:41and I've had the opportunity
42:44to study that one
42:45very closely
42:46and also to see it together
42:48with the Ficcarelli painting
42:50and to me
42:51they are entirely different
42:52and a very different character
42:54one very much
42:55a Dutch painting
42:56and one very much
42:57an Italian painting
42:58and there are a lot
43:00of elements
43:00of the Saint Proxedis
43:02that are consistent
43:03with early Vermeer
43:05the complicated thing
43:06obviously
43:07is based on another painting
43:08and so many of the elements
43:11of it are
43:12have this Italian quality
43:14that people aren't comfortable
43:16with in Vermeer's world
43:17we're still hoping
43:18there will be more Vermeers
43:20and then there is also
43:22the thing
43:23is it a real Vermeer
43:24or not
43:25because that's
43:26every time a Vermeer
43:28pops up
43:29you'll get those questions
43:33at 3 million
43:343 million 200 thousand
43:363 million 500 thousand
43:383 million 800 thousand
43:39now
43:40at 3 million 8
43:41yes 4 million
43:42we have no other
43:43copies of paintings
43:45by Vermeer
43:46so this will be unique
43:49if it is
43:49a full size
43:50copy of a painting
43:524 million 200 thousand
43:54yes
43:544 million 500 thousand
43:554 million 800 thousand
43:574 million 800 thousand
44:00it's unclear as to why
44:02he would have wanted
44:03to copy this particular painting
44:04and stylistically
44:06it's been questioned
44:08as whether it's
44:10consistent with Vermeer's work
44:125 million 500 thousand
44:17pounds
44:17last chance
44:18sold
44:20thank you
44:20for 5 million 500 thousand
44:22just like the lady
44:27seated at the virginals
44:28scientific tests
44:30seem to be bringing
44:30another painting
44:31back into his canon
44:33it's been quite a battle
44:35trying to rescue the legacy
44:36of johannes
44:37Vermeer
44:38arguments will continue
44:39over the attribution
44:41of some of the paintings
44:42including the unique
44:43saint proxedis
44:44but even if no new
44:46Vermeers do turn up
44:47the few paintings
44:48we do have
44:49continue to entranse
44:51people
44:51all across the globe
44:53the mystery of
44:54Vermeer
44:54goes on
44:56there's always a chance
44:57that something
44:58might emerge
44:59I think it's a little bit
45:00unlikely at this stage
45:01because he's been famous
45:02for a hundred years
45:03but who knows
45:05something might emerge
45:06I mean you can hope
45:07he's so well known now
45:08that I'd be surprised
45:10if something came up new
45:11that wasn't already known
45:12but you never know
45:13in a private collection
45:14it may appear
45:15in future years
45:16today one of the real
45:17absolute stars
45:18of what the Dutch
45:19golden age
45:20in painting
45:20was
45:22but also
45:23a painter
45:24with a very tiny
45:26little oeuvre
45:26once you see a Vermeer
45:28you never forget it
45:29you never forget
45:30where you saw it
45:32the milkmaid
45:32where you see
45:33the view of Delft
45:34where you see
45:34the girl with a pearl earring
45:35where you see
45:36the woman with a balance
45:36at the National Gallery
45:37the woman in blue
45:38I mean you name it
45:39it's magical
45:39to watch the power
45:41of this artist
45:42but the most important thing
45:43is they are all
45:45such distinctive images
45:46you know
45:49the people like
45:51you know
45:52the people like
45:54your husband
45:54and their husband
45:55and I
45:56and I
45:57you know
45:58do you know
45:58something that you know
45:59there's all
45:59that you know
46:00there's only a 19- PV