"Portrait of a Lady," Italian painting looted by Nazis, ordered returned to Jewish collector's heir

Key Points:

• An Argentine judge ruled that a 17th-century Italian painting looted by Nazis from Jewish Dutch art collector Jacques Goudstikker must be returned to his heir, Maril von Saher, after the daughter of a fugitive Nazi official agreed to relinquish her claim.
• The painting, "Portrait of a Lady," was discovered in 2025 in the Argentine home of Patricia Kadgien, daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a Nazi SS financier who escaped to South America after World War II.
• Patricia Kadgien and her husband avoided criminal trial by agreeing to give up the painting, undergo court supervision for two years, and make payments to a local hospital, while allowing the artwork to be exhibited in Argentina before its return.
• Originally attributed to Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi, the painting was reattributed by Argentina's National Academy of Fine Arts to Giacomo Antonio Melchiorre Ceruti and authenticated as part of Goudstikker's collection, valued at approximately $290,000.
• Authorities continue investigating other artworks seized in raids on Kadgien family properties for possible Nazi-era looting, amid ongoing efforts to recover stolen cultural property from World War II.