A federal court in Argentina has placed the daughter of a former Nazi official and her husband under house arrest after investigators failed to recover a painting looted during World War II, long considered one of Europe’s missing masterpieces.
The case gripped Argentina last week after a Dutch newspaper reported that a property listing in the coastal city of Mar del Plata featured a painting resembling Portrait of Contessa Colleoni, an 18th-century work by Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi. The portrait, stolen by the Nazis more than 80 years ago, is listed on international databases of wartime looted art.
Authorities raided the home believed to belong to Patricia Kadgien — daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a former senior Nazi official who fled to Argentina after the war — but failed to locate the painting.
Judicial Action and Raids
Patricia Kadgien and her husband were ordered to remain under house arrest for 72 hours beginning Monday. A judicial official in Mar del Plata told Reuters that the couple will face questioning for allegedly obstructing the investigation. They are expected to appear before a court by Thursday and may be charged with “concealment of theft in the context of genocide.”
Authorities conducted four additional raids at properties linked to Kadgien and her relatives, discovering two other paintings believed to date to the 1800s. However, the missing Ghislandi portrait remains unaccounted for.
The Painting’s Dark Legacy
The Portrait of Contessa Colleoni was part of a collection of more than 1,000 artworks stolen by the Nazis from renowned Amsterdam art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, who died in 1940 while fleeing the German invasion. According to Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, archival documents suggest that Friedrich Kadgien, who later settled in Argentina, had taken possession of the painting. Kadgien died in 1979.
The search for the Ghislandi portrait adds to Argentina’s troubled legacy as a haven for fugitive Nazi officials following the fall of the Third Reich.
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