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

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.

"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 World War II.

"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.

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.

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 World War II.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.