 Woman removes painting varnish, uncovers husband's 50-year-old secret. Sean stands frozen in her tracks, and then clasps her hands to her mouth. The painting that she thought she knew so well looked completely different. The cleaning had removed varnish and exposed its true content. What she had been told wasn't true. Her husband had misled her. Now, the genie was out of the bottle. And she knew life would never be the same again. Sean Smith and her husband Richard had spent the last 54 years together. The two lovebirds first met when they were just 18, and since then they embarked on a journey full of love, loyalty, and companionship. But Sean had no idea her husband was hiding a secret. A secret that remained hidden away. Until now. Since they first met 54 years ago, Sean and Richard became inseparable, and even now in their 70s the two rarely left each other's sides. It was only when Sean cleaned a painting that Richard had given her 50 years ago when she realized that the past 50 years wasn't what she thought it was. Sean had spent her life as an avid art collector. Although she refused to pay big bucks for certain pieces, she often saved and treated herself when she saw something she truly loved. So when her then-boyfriend and now-husband Richard gave her a piece of art, she was thrilled, but she had no idea what was to come. Fifty years ago to celebrate their fourth anniversary together, Richard had got Sean a painting that he claimed to have gotten for a good price. Richard was always thoughtful with his gifts and gestures, he knew just how much art meant to Sean. Handing over the painting with his Hollywood smile glistening in the light, Sean felt butterflies in her stomach. But she had no idea there was something behind his Hollywood smile. As soon as Sean saw the painting her mouth dropped wide open. It was gorgeous, but it looked just like a Rembrandt and iconic painter. However, Richard insisted it wasn't and was nearly a painting by an unknown painter. Either way, Sean loved it. But she knew she had to find out the truth. No matter what. Few painters are as revered as Rembrandt. The Dutch genius has been hailed as one of the masters of the art world. Famed during his lifetime, Rembrandt's reputation has only gotten better and better since his death in 1669. Owning a Rembrandt painting is a big deal. They are rare and highly valued. Sean wanted to know the truth, but she wasn't prepared for it. Although her husband insisted that this painting was not Rembrandt, Sean had a feeling in her stomach it could be. After all, she had been surrounding herself with art for all of her life. Something was telling her to find out more, but her husband thought it was nonsense. The painting, titled Portrait of a Young Lady Look Like a Typical Rembrandt Work. It had all the hallmarks of his back catalog. Or so it seemed. Sean's husband told her that he sent it off to Holland for an examination. And when they responded, Sean was completely surprised. Her husband said an official assessment from Rembrandt experts in Holland, found that the painting wasn't actually a Rembrandt at all. Sean felt devastated she truly did think it was genuine. This wasn't an original painting by the Dutch master so who was it by? Ultimately Sean never found out the truth until now. Decades had passed since Sean received her Rembrandt painting which was deemed illegitimate. It was a beautiful painting no matter the hand it was created by. It hung in her living space for years and years. And through all these years Sean did wonder if she would ever know who made this painting? All she had were theories. And decades after, the truth was about to be revealed. It was not uncommon for masters of the great Dutch art era to take on protégés. Many of the best depended on mentors to take them under their wings and show them the ropes. Rembrandt wanted to pass on his knowledge and thus took on assistance. But there was also another theory that Sean had. And it was a theory that left the hairs on the back of her neck stand up straight. When Sean was told by her husband that her painting was a fake she was devastated. But Sean could see the sadness in the painting. She could tell whoever had painted the piece of art had some serious anger and violence pent up inside of them, just waiting to explode. In fact, as soon as she saw it she felt a shiver run up her spine. But then a thought came to her, did the person who painted this piece of art have a dark history? Michelangelo Caravaggio was one of the great Italian painters of the Baroque movement. But he wasn't just that. He had ended someone's life. Famous for his temper, Caravaggio had to flee Rome in 1606 after committing murder after a tennis match. Naturally, this has complicated his legacy. Could his art still be proudly sold? Sean was conflicted. And she was conflicted for 50 years until one day she took a closer look at this painting. 50 years after receiving the painting, Sean was cleaning her house while her husband was out grocery shopping. As she swept the floor she glanced over at the painting. It sure did fill her with happiness every time she saw it. But then suddenly a sparkle glistened on the painting and Sean's curiosity shot up. She walked closer to the painting not knowing what she was about to uncover. Straight away Sean started to remove layers of varnish and with each layer removed the painting seemed to reveal its true identity. By the end, all she could do was gasp. The painting looked so different from 50 years ago. She had tears in her eyes. Picking up her phone, she called her husband. I knew it, you didn't believe me. You see, when Sean was removing the varnish, she deduced that somebody had poured it on to create a mirrored surface. However, it obscured the original brushwork and color of this artwork. After undoing that damage, Sean concluded that the last 50 years had been a lie. The true artist was Rembrandt. Her husband had lied to her. But now she had to prove it. When the media were notified about this story there was only one person they wanted to speak to and that was Sean. It was her keen eye that allowed Sean to spot the mistake. But interviewers kept coming back to the same question over and over again. How did 50 years pass before somebody corrected this error? It's hard to know why it took so long for Sean to spot the error. Her husband insisted he didn't know it was genuine. There's a lesson here, always get a second opinion. One such mistake ended up costing a woman over 160,000 pounds of her own money. Lynn Fuss had spotted the William Nicholson painting still life of a glass jug and pears and fell in love with it. However, there was no way she was going to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds unless she was sure it was real. The first clue was to examine a string of mysterious numbers and letters on the back. Using ultraviolet techniques, the authenticator eventually discovered they were trained departures that coordinated with when the British painter was alive and working. The second clue was more important to Fuss. It was the physical paints on the canvas. And for this particular artist, they still had samples from Nicholson's paint box. That was enough for Fuss, not to mention the art community. Since the paints were a match, it had to be real. The art enthusiast shelled out over 160,000 pounds and carefully took it back home to enjoy. Things seemed fine until she made the huge mistake of appearing on television. The British television show, Fake or Fortune was an amazing and free opportunity for Fuss to have her paintings worth properly evaluated. After all, there could be a chance to sell it in the future. The show's main authenticator, Patricia Reed took a close look and frowned. It was a bad sign. She had barely looked at the canvas and already had some very strong opinions that drew tears to the owner's eyes. The first stab to the heart was the words boringly painted. The next was close and disquieting similarities. But the woman was still going to move forward with a thorough examination, including the same tests that had proved it was real. Fuss wasn't the only one waiting in agony. The main format of the show was to first evaluate the piece and then reveal the verdict in the following episode. Everyone was desperate to know the real value of Fuss's investment. As soon as the show aired, you could see something strange in the presenter's eyes. It was normal to draw out details for added suspense and airtime. But, at that point, nobody cared that Winston Churchill had been a very apt pupil of Nicholson. The presenter finally pointed to the painting delivered two pieces of devastating news that nearly brought Fuss to her knees. Not only was there not enough evidence to show this was a true Nicholson, but the value also dropped from hundreds of thousands to a mere couple hundred. Everyone watching felt the same stab of disappointment and loss, but none more than the owner. An unexpected twist is that Reed became somewhat of a villain. People vehemently protested that if one person thought there was enough evidence, including paints from the artist's own box, then how was her not enough evidence ruling the superior one? There were even calls for torches and pitchforks to her front door. Reed fired back with a very common claim. The theory was that Nicholson had many students in his workshop and one of them probably practiced with his paints. One woman's ruling ended up countering past examinations. Fuss was forced to go home with an old piece of canvas that was worth less than the handbag she was carrying. So much for second opinions.