The Independent World
· collected 2026-09-05 · by Sergio Farella and Almudena Calatrava
An Argentine court has approved a deal for a couple to return an 18th-century Italian portrait looted during World War II to the heir of a Dutch-Jewish art dealer. Patricia Kadgien's husband Juan Carlos Cortegoso was charged with aggravated cover-up last year, and they agreed to give up any claim to the work in exchange for avoiding a trial and spending two years under court supervision. The deal follows a year-long legal saga that began when investigators spotted the painting online at Kadgien's home in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where it was valued at around $290,000. The portrait is believed to be a work by Giacomo Antonio Melchiorre Ceruti, one of 1,100 artworks from Goudstikker's collection that were illegally sold to Hermann Göring during the war.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event.
An Argentine court has approved a deal to return a long-lost 18th-century Italian portrait, which was looted from a prominent Jewish art dealer during World War II, to his heir.
asserted
which → approve → heir
The agreement paves the way for the long-sought return of Portrait of a Lady to Marei von Saher, the sole surviving heir of Dutch-Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, whose celebrated collection was sold under duress to Nazi officials after Adolf Hitler’s Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940.
asserted
Germany → pave → 1940
Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of the late high-ranking Nazi official Friedrich Kadgien, and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, were charged with aggravated cover-up last year after authorities said they hid the 18th-century painting despite knowing it was being sought by Argentine and international investigators.
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it → rank → investigators
Under the agreement, the couple agreed to give up any claim to the work and consent to its return to von Saher in exchange for avoiding a criminal trial and spending two years under court supervision.
uncertain
couple → agree → supervision
During that time, they must make payments to a hospital in Argentina's coastal city of Mar del Plata, where they live, and keep authorities informed of their whereabouts.
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they → make → whereabouts
The deal ends a generations-long search for the missing portrait and a yearlong legal saga that began in August 2025.
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that → end → August
Dutch reporters investigating Friedrich Kadgien, a fugitive Nazi financial official who fled to Argentina after World War II, spotted “Portrait of a Lady” hanging above a green velvet couch in an online real estate listing for his daughter’s rustic home in Mar del Plata.
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who → investigate → Plata
The listing disappeared within hours of the Rotterdam-based newspaper Algemeen Dagblad publishing its findings.
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newspaper → disappear → findings
Police raided the home several times but failed to find the painting.
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Police → raid → painting
More than a week later, Kadgien’s lawyer turned it over to authorities.
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lawyer → turn → authorities
For decades, the portrait had been identified as a work by the Italian Baroque painter Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi.
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portrait → identify → painter
It appeared under that attribution in Goudstikker’s collection records and was exhibited as a Ghislandi in Amsterdam before the war.
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It → appear → war
But a court-ordered examination by Argentina’s National Academy of Fine Arts reached a different conclusion, attributing the work to the Italian artist Giacomo Antonio Melchiorre Ceruti.
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examination → order → artist
Experts authenticated the painting as part of Goudstikker’s collection and estimated its value at about 250,000 euros ($290,000).
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Experts → authenticate → euros
Goudstikker was one of Europe’s leading art dealers before World War II, known for a collection that included works by Rembrandt and Vermeer.
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that → lead → Rembrandt
He died in a shipwreck while fleeing Amsterdam with his family as German forces swept into the Netherlands in May 1940.
uncertain
forces → die → May
An estimated 1,100 works from his collection were illegally sold to Hermann Göring, known as Hitler’s right-hand man, who amassed a vast art collection during the war.
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who → sell → war
It remains unclear exactly how “Portrait of a Lady” came into the possession of Kadgien, Göring’s financial adviser, who handled foreign currency, precious metals and the sale of confiscated property for the Nazi regime.
uncertain
who → remain → regime
Kadgien fled Europe after Germany’s defeat, first to Switzerland and later to Argentina.
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Kadgien → flee → Argentina
He died in 1978 without having been arrested or charged with war crimes.
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He → die → crimes
Lawyers for von Saher, who now lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, and spent decades trying to recover her family’s looted art, said she has agreed to let the painting be exhibited in Argentina before being returned to her.
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painting → live → her
During last year's raids on homes owned by Kadgien and her sister in Mar del Plata, Argentine police also seized two 19th-century paintings, along with other prints and engravings.
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police → own → prints
Authorities are still investigating whether any of them may also have been looted during World War II.
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any → investigate → II
