12. Van Meegeren anticipated being exposed as a forger
In 1943, van Meegeren and his wife divorced. As part of the divorce settlement, most of his properties and nearly all of his fortune were transferred to her name. Prior to the divorce neither van Meegeren nor his wife considered their wedding vow of forsaking all others as being little more than a suggestion. Nonetheless, following the divorce, they continued to live together, to all appearances remaining husband and wife. Following his eventual arrest, speculation arose the divorce had simply been a means of protecting the bulk of his fortune from seizure by the authorities. Whether his wife knew of his forgeries remains a subject of debate among historians. At any rate, the authorities never charged his wife, or rather his ex-wife, with being involved in his crimes.
Confronted with the painting and Goering’s inventory, van Meegeren at first denied knowledge of the sale by Miedl to the Nazi leader. Miedl had long before fled to Spain, where he enjoyed some protection from Franco’s government. Allied authorities dismissed van Meegeren’s claim, placing him in danger of being charged with collaboration with the Nazis, a crime which carried the possibility of the death penalty. Van Meegeren considered his options. He could deny the charge of collaboration and risk conviction at trial. Or he could reveal the painting to be a forgery, and thus his personal property, rather than Dutch property. Doing so exposed him to charges as a forger, which carried a short prison sentence, along with financial penalties.