We learn in the first paragraph of the passage that van Meegeren painted The Disciples at Emmaus under the forged signature of Vermeer.
There is no information in the passage to suggest that Vermeer originally painted the same painting; rather, the passage suggests that van Meegeren copied Vermeer's art's aesthetic characteristics and painting techniques and then passed the work off as Vermeer's. This is supported in lines 17 to 21 and lines 47 to 51. In this way, van Meegeren was still a forger, but he painted an original piece.
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