Van Meegeren felt that his genius had been misjudged, and he set out to prove to the art critics that he could more than copy the Dutch Masters; he would produce a work so magnificent that it would rival theirs.
Van Meegeren mente, at hans geni var blevet fejlbedømt og han satte sig for at bevise for kunstkritikerne, at han kunne mere end kopiere de hollandske mestre; han ville producere et arbejde så storslået, at det kunne konkurrere med deres.