Argentinian public prosecutors accused the daughter of a fugitive Nazi officer of an attempt to hide an 18th-century Italian painting that was looted during the Second World War and was not publicly seen in 80 years.
The charges came one day after Patricia Kadgien, the 59-year-old daughter of the Nazi officer Friedrich Kadgien, who reportedly stole it during a leading European art dealer during the Second World War, ‘portrait of a lady’ handed over to authorities. The painting by the Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi probably dates to around 1710, with a value of around $ 50,000, the Associated Press reported, referring to one art expert.
Artist pulls art from Smithsonian Gallery after the museum tries to change her trans -statue of Liberty Painting
The heir of the original owner of the painting, the Dutch-Jewish art collector Jacques Goudstik, who died in a shipwreck during the fleeing of Amsterdam during the war, reportedly submitted a legal claim to reclaim the artwork. The descendants of Goudste have made an effort to restore around 1,100 paintings that his missing since he was forced to sell his extensive art collection to Hermann Göring, the right hand of Adolf Hitler, according to the Associated Press.
Giuseppe Ghislandi’s 18th-century painting ‘Portrait of a Lady’, reportedly stolen by a Nazi officer during the Second World War and discovered in his daughter’s house after appearing in a real estate list, is displayed during a press conference by officer of Justice Daniel Adler, Argentina, Argentina. (AP Photo/Christian Heit)
Dutch journalists, while investigating the time of Friedrich Kadgien in Argentina, discovered the painting in an online real estate list that showed the artwork hanging in the living room of Patricia Kadgien. Shortly after publishing a story about it in the Dutch news exhaust Algemeen Dagblad last week, the list was removed, the Associated Press reported.
The grave of the medieval knight discovers under the former ice cream parlor in Poland: ‘Very rare’
The police immediately fell over the house of Patricia Kadgien in the city of Mar del Plata, as well as other properties related to her and her sister Alicia. They did not find the painting, but grabbed a gun and a revolver, as well as other engravings and paintings that are also assumed to have been stolen during the Second World War, according to the Associated Press.
Patricia Kadgien, rechts, een van de dochters van Fugitive Nazi-functionaris Friedrich Kadgien, en haar echtgenoot, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, links, wonen een hoorzitting in de zaak in de zaak van de diefstal van de 18e-eeuwse Italiaanse “portret van een dame van een dame”, die werd genomen uit een Joodse collector tijdens de Wereldoorlog, in Marl Plata, donderdag, 2025. (AP Photo/Christian Heit)
After the raids, Patricia Kadgien and her husband Juan Carlos Cortegoso, 62, were placed under house arrest. The couple gave the portrait to the authorities on Wednesday, and after the hearing on Thursday they were released from house arrest, but forbidden to leave the country and had to inform the court about any departure from their address, according to AP.
Archaeologist solves ‘Jigsaw Puzzle’ from ancient Roman fragments hidden from almost two millennia
It is not yet clear where the painting will go afterwards or how it came into the possession of Friedrich Kadgien, who died in 1978 in Argentina after fleeing the war, AP reported.
Prosecutor Daniel Adler Gives a Press Conference in front of Giuseppe Ghislandi’s 18th-century painting “Portrait of a Lady,” Reportedly Stolen by a Nazi Officer Duration world II and Discovered in the Home of his Daughter After Appertaring Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Christian Heit)
“We simply do this so that the community to whom we partially owe the discovery of the work can see … these images can see,” said Federal Public Prosecutor Daniel Adler in a press conference about the artwork.
Earlier in the week, the defendants’ lawyer, Carlos Murias, asked a civil court to allow the auction of the painting, but according to AP, the request was refused.
Click here to get the Fox News app
Marei von Saher, the heir of Goudstikker, is said to have submitted a legal claim to the painting via the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office in New York, AP reported, with reference to the public prosecutor Carlos Martínez.
