Yet more crime related news from the art world: the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, Germany has discovered that the its prize Monet painting, “The Seine at Port Villez” is really a fake.

“Our restoration department examined some 70 paintings with X-rays, with infrared technology and paint tests to deconstruct and explain the painters’ techniques for an exhibition starting in two weeks,” Stefan Swertz told AFP.

“There were several things that made us take a closer look at ‘The Seine at Port Villez’ and we have absolutely no doubt that it was not painted by Monet,” he said.

One of the things that unmasked the fake Monet was the fact that the painter’s name was not signed just once but later retraced to be darker.