A court in Argentina has ruled that a painting stolen by the Nazis must be returned to the heir of its rightful owner. The late-baroque artwork, known as Portrait of a Lady, was lost for 80 years until it was identified in photographs of a house for sale near Buenos Aires. The property belonged to Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of a Nazi fugitive, who has agreed to return the painting in exchange for not facing prosecution for concealing it.
Portrait of a Lady was among over 1,000 artworks looted from Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker's collection after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. His daughter-in-law and sole heir, Marei von Saher, plans to exhibit the painting on a temporary loan at the Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires to raise awareness about the issue, according to Argentine newspaper Clarin.
The painting was first recognized in August 2025 by the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad on an estate agent's website for a property in Mar del Plata, where it was displayed above a green sofa in Kadgien's living room. Patricia Kadgien and her husband Juan Carlos Cortegoso were charged with concealment last September and placed under house arrest after a search of their property initially did not locate the painting.
At a hearing in Mar del Plata on Friday, all criminal proceedings against the couple were suspended. The agreement reached with prosecutors requires Kadgien and her husband to relinquish all rights to the artwork and to donate 4.8 million pesos (approximately £2,356 or $3,185) to local hospitals.
Portrait of a Lady, also known as Contessa Colleoni, is attributed to late-baroque artist Giuseppe Ghislandi, though some experts have questioned its provenance, suggesting it may be the work of Giacomo Ceruti, another Italian artist from the same period.