September 5, 2026 / 9:58 AM EDT
/ CBS/AP
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A 17th-century Italian painting looted by Nazis from a prominent Jewish Dutch art collector must be returned to the rightful owner's heir, a judge in Argentina ruled on Friday.Judge Santiago Inchausti approved a deal in which the daughter of a fugitive Nazi official agreed to give up her claim to the painting rather than face trial. This paves the way for the long-sought return of "Portrait of a Lady" to Maril von Saher, the sole surviving heir of art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. His much-celebrated collection of 1,100 paintings was sold under duress to Nazi officials after Adolf Hitler's Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940.The painting was recognized by the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad in a photo of a house for sale in the Argentine seaside resort of Mar del Plata in August 2025. The painting 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 the several high-ranking Nazis to escape to the South American country after World War II.Patricia 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 Argentine and international investigators were seeking it.Under the agreement, a copy obtained by The Associated Press, 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. 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.
