A famous 20th-century forgery crafted in the style of Johannes Vermeer's 17th-century tronies (character head studies). Designed to echo masterpieces like Girl with a Pearl Earring, it was acquired as a genuine Vermeer by financier Andrew W. Mellon and later gifted to the National Gallery of Art. Technical analysis and art-historical scholarship eventually exposed it as a modern imitation created around 1925 (likely by Theo van Wijngaarden or associated with Han van Meegeren's circle), turning it into a fascinating study in authentication history.