Argentina ordered to return Nazi-looted painting to Jewish collector’s heir

A painting identified as "Portrait of a Lady" by Italian baroque portraitist Giacomo Ceruti is displayed at the Public Prosecutor's Office in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on Sept. 3, 2025. Photo by AFP via Getty Images

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Argentina must return an 18th-century painting stolen by Nazis from a Dutch Jewish art collector to the rightful owner’s heir, a judge ruled Friday.

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“Portrait of a Lady” by Italian late baroque painter Giacomo Ceruti was missing for eight decades before being photographed last year hanging in the home of the daughter of a senior Nazi officer who had fled to Argentina after the Second World War.

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“An order will be issued for the painting to be returned to the heir” of art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, judge Santiago Inchausti declared following an agreement reached between the concerned parties.

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The painting was first recognized by the Dutch newspaper AD in photographs of a house for sale in the seaside resort of Mar del Plata.

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It was hanging above a green sofa in the living room of Patricia Kadgien, whose father, Friedrich Kadgien, was a financier for the Nazi SS paramilitary organization. He was one of several high-ranking Nazis to escape to Argentina after the Second World War.

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Patricia Kadgien, who clutched a rosary during the hearing in Mar del Plata, was charged with concealment and placed under house arrest along with her husband when the artwork was identified.

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The pair agreed to return the painting to Goudstikker’s daughter-in-law and sole heir, Marei von Saher, and give around US$3,200 to local hospitals.

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“Portrait of a Lady” was among over 1,000 artworks stolen from Goudstikker’s collection after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940.

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Goudstikker fled his country days after the invasion, leaving behind a litany of works that was divvied up by top German officials.

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After the war the Dutch state retrieved some 300 works from the collection, most of which it later returned to Goudstikker’s heirs. But more remain scattered around the globe.

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The painting is by Ceruti (1698-1767), known as “Il Pitocchetto,” and not the portraitist Giuseppe Ghislandi as initially reported, the Argentine government stated in a press release.

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