Argentine couple to return Nazi-looted painting to rightful owner

Image source, STR/EPA/ShutterstockImage caption, The artwork was first spotted in an estate agent's photo advertising a property near Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• Painting looted by Nazis recovered in ArgentinaPublished4 September 2025.

Uma pintura que foi roubada pelos nazistas e só recuperada na Argentina no ano passado deve agora ser devolvida ao herdeiro do legítimo dono, decidiu um tribunal.

The late-baroque Portrait of a Lady was lost for 80 years until it was spotted in photographs of a house for sale near Buenos Aires.

The house belonged to Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of a Nazi fugitive who had fled there after the Second World War, and she has now agreed to return the painting in exchange for not being prosecuted for concealing it from the authorities.

Portrait of a Lady foi entre mais de 1. 000 obras de arte saqueadas da coleção do comerciante de arte judeu Jacques Goudstikker após a invasão nazista da Holanda em 1940.

His daughter-in-law and sole heir Marei von Saher intends for the painting to be exhibited on a temporary loan at the Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires to spread awareness of the issue, Argentine newspaper Clarin reports.

Von Saher has previously said her family "aims to bring back every single artwork robbed from Jacques' collection, and to restore his legacy.

Esta pintura foi reconhecida pela primeira vez em agosto de 2025 pelo jornal holandês Algemeen Dagblad (AD) em um site de corretor de imóveis de uma propriedade na cidade litorânea de Mar del Plata.

It was hanging above a green sofa in the living room of Patricia Kadgien, whose father Friedrich Kadgien had been a top adviser to Hermann Goring, Adolf Hitler's deputy.

Goring plundered thousands of works across Europe.

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Patricia Kadgien and her husband Juan Carlos Cortegoso appeared alongside their lawyer in a court near Buenos Aires on Friday.

Last September, Patricia Kadgien and her husband were charged with concealment and placed under house arrest after a search of her property initially failed to find the painting.

Mas na audiência de sexta-feira em Mar del Plata, todos os processos criminais foram suspensos contra o casal.

Retrato de uma Dama, também conhecida como Contessa Colleoni, é atribuído ao trabalho do artista late-baroque Giuseppe Ghislandi.

However, experts have questioned the artwork's provenance, with some scholars attributing it to Giacomo Ceruti - another Italian artist from the same period.

Artwork looted by Nazis 80 years ago spotted in estate agent ad.