Portrait of a Thief

This story, first posted on 11/21/11, is reconstructed from a true occurrence that happened several years ago. I was not the artist involved:

A young artist struggling to make a name for himself was ecstatic when an industrialist, the wealthiest man in town, commissioned a portrait of himself. The price agreed on for the painting (two thousand dollars) was more than the young artist had ever received. He was determined to make this the best portrait he’d ever painted. What happened next was unexpected and you can read about it (here).