Een echte Vermeer

Begin jaren 20. De jonge, getalenteerde Han van Meegeren schildert net als zijn grote idolen Rembrandt en Johannes Vermeer: met een welhaast fotografische precisie. De getrouwde Han begint een stormachtige, verboden verhouding met Jólanka, de echtgenote van de alom gerespecteerde kunstcriticus Abraham Bredius.

Young and talented Han van Meegeren is a rebel in the early 1920's Amsterdam art-scene. Because he paints in the style of his idols Rembrandt and Vermeer, critics find his work old-fashioned and they call him a copycat. Just to prove a point, he produces a fake Vermeer and tries to pass it off as a real one. It works. Instead of revealing the truth and thereby embarrassing the art world, he continues to make money off of his many forgeries. Soon he is caught in a web of lies and deceit, and his life spins out of control. Then one day, high ranking Nazi Hermann Göring knocks on his door, looking for a Vermeer for his private collection...