This is 'Portrait of a Lady,' a work by the Italian painter Vittore Ghislandi, which belonged to a Jewish merchant
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A late Baroque portrait that belonged to a Jewish collector in Europe and was looted by the Nazis during World War II has resurfaced in an unlikely place: a house in Argentina, where it appeared as nothing less than part of the decoration in a real estate listing.
This is "Portrait of a Lady," a work by the Italian painter Vittore Ghislandi, who died in 1743. The painting was part of the vast collection of Jacques Goudstikker, a renowned Dutch Jewish art dealer, whose gallery was dismantled by the Nazis after the German occupation of the Netherlands.
In 2006, an official commission in the Netherlands determined that hundreds of pieces from his collection had been confiscated or acquired under coercion. More than 200 were returned to the family in the 2000s, but many others remained missing.
The discovery occurred when the painting appeared in photographs of a house put up for sale in Argentina.
Nazi leader Hermann Göring
The investigation led to Friedrich Kadgien, who was financial advisor to Hermann Göring, one of the main leaders of the Third Reich. Kadgien fled to Argentina after the end of the war and died there, leaving the property in the hands of his family.
The current owner of the house, Kadgien's daughter, claimed to have no knowledge of the painting's origin and was evasive when questioned by the newspaper.
Nevertheless, two experts confirmed that the painting matches in dimensions and characteristics with Ghislandi's missing work, ruling out the possibility of a forgery.
Although Ghislandi's works do not reach exorbitant prices on the market—some have been sold at auction for just a few thousand dollars—the symbolic value of "Portrait of a Lady" is incalculable, as it is part of the cultural legacy that the Nazis took from European Jewish families.
Marei von Saher, heir to Jacques Goudstikker, announced that she will initiate legal action to claim the restitution of the work.
Her case adds to those of numerous Jewish families who, more than 80 years after the Holocaust, are still fighting to recover the heritage that was taken from them during the darkest years of European history.
