 During the German occupation of the Netherlands, one of van Meegeren's agents sold the Vermeer forgery "Christ with the Adulteress" to Nazi banker and art dealer Alois Miedl in 1942.Experts could probably have identified it as a forgery; as van Meegeren's health declined, so did the quality of his work.He chain-smoked, drank heavily, and became addicted to morphine-laced sleeping pills.