Portrait of a Lady, also known as Portrait of a Woman, is a portrait by Fra Galgario of the Contessa Colleoni. Missing since 1945, it was discovered in 2025 on display in a private house in Mar del Plata, Argentina.[1][2]
The portrait was created by Italian painter Fra Galgario (born Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi, 1655–1743). It dates to the early 18th century.[3]
Disappearance
The painting was part of the collection of Jacques Goudstikker that was forcibly sold in 1940 to Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring.[1][4] It was believed to have been one of two paintings in the possession of Göring's aide and SS officer Friedrich Kadgien. He fled to Switzerland at the end of World WarII, later moving to Brazil and Argentina.[4] Kadgien died in 1978 and was survived by his two daughters.[4] The Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad had unsuccessfully tried to speak to Kadgien's daughters about their father for several years.[4]
Rediscovery
In an August 2025 article,[5]Algemeen Dagblad detailed how they had dispatched a reporter to the house who had no response, but did email the newspaper a link to the details of the house for sale on the website of a real estate agent. The portrait was visible in one of the images of the house for sale.[4] Goudstikker's heirs are determined to recover the painting.[4] It was later reported that after officials searched the property the painting had been removed and replaced with a tapestry, with officials vowing to continue to search.[6]
A second lost painting, a still life by Abraham Mignon, was apparently visible in a post to social media by one of Kadgien's daughters.[4] Patricia Kadgien and her husband were placed under house arrest while authorities conducted their investigation.[7] Kadgien and her husband were questioned for obstructing the investigation, and are likely to be charged with concealment of theft in the context of genocide. Searches of family properties during the investigation resulted in the seizure of two other paintings and a series of engravings and drawings that may have also been stolen pieces, at the home of Ms Kadgien's sister.[8] In early September, the looted painting Portrait of a Lady was handed over to officials, who began examining its provenance to establish the rightful owners.[9]
The two paintings (by Galgario at left and Mignon at right) as shown on the Dutch culture heritage website
SNK nr.751, record for the Ghislandi painting on the Dutch culture ministry website
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