In fact, even Olbers was unable to discredit the Fey und Sohn restoration, and debunk the Viking legend.

FORBES: How An Art Forger Duped The Nazis By Counterfeiting The Middle Ages [Book Excerpt]

Praised at the turn of the century, by 1937 the repairs were deemed a calamity because Olbers had restored by repainting.

FORBES: How An Art Forger Duped The Nazis By Counterfeiting The Middle Ages [Book Excerpt]

Olbers explained that he had not intended to fool anyone.

FORBES: How An Art Forger Duped The Nazis By Counterfeiting The Middle Ages [Book Excerpt]

Down in the schwahl, Malskat and the Feys set to work, attempting to reclaim history by scraping away the paint with which Olbers had tried to recapture the past.

FORBES: How An Art Forger Duped The Nazis By Counterfeiting The Middle Ages [Book Excerpt]

With the passage of centuries, though, the biblical scenes were gradually degraded by dampness, to such an extent that in 1888 church authorities hired the painter August Olbers to mend the damage.

FORBES: How An Art Forger Duped The Nazis By Counterfeiting The Middle Ages [Book Excerpt]

Olbers was guilty of all three affronts.

FORBES: How An Art Forger Duped The Nazis By Counterfeiting The Middle Ages [Book Excerpt]