The Masterpiece Hidden in Zillow

An ornate Italian portrait hangs above a sofa in a visual reconstruction of the Mar del Plata property where the missing painting was photographed. (Digital Illustration: GoBeyondLocal)

The Masterpiece Hidden in Zillow

For decades, nobody knew where the portrait had gone.

It had belonged to a major Dutch collection before the Second World War scattered thousands of artworks across Europe.

By the time anyone saw the Giuseppe Ghislandi painting again, it was hanging above a sofa inside a house in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

The clue came from a photograph made for a property listing.

The painting came from Giuseppe Ghislandi, the Italian artist also known as Fra Galgario. It showed Cecilia Colleoni, an Italian countess, in an 18th-century portrait.

Before the war, the canvas belonged to Jacques Goudstikker, a Dutch Jewish art dealer and collector whose holdings included more than a thousand works.

In 1940, Goudstikker fled the German invasion of the Netherlands. He died during the escape, while the collection he had assembled was left exposed to Nazi seizure.

After German forces took control, works from the Goudstikker collection were seized and scattered. Paintings passed into different hands, and records lost track of some of them.

The Ghislandi portrait became one of those missing works. For decades, its location stayed unknown.

Much later, investigators examining the history of Friedrich Kadgien, a former Nazi official who settled in South America after the war, turned their attention towards Argentina.

The investigation reached Mar del Plata and a property connected with Patricia Kadgien, daughter of Friedrich Kadgien.

The house was being prepared for sale, and photographs of its rooms appeared online for prospective buyers.

One photograph showed a large framed portrait hanging above a sofa.

People familiar with the missing Ghislandi work recognised similarities between the painting in the photograph and records of the lost portrait.

The photograph gave investigators a recent image of the painting inside a specific home.

By the time authorities searched the Mar del Plata property, however, the canvas had left the house.

Documents and other objects connected with art were seized during the investigation. Patricia Kadgien and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, were placed under house arrest while authorities examined possible obstruction linked to the search.

The photograph had captured something the search itself could no longer provide: a recent view of the missing portrait in its location inside the house.

Investigators now had a specific place to examine and a recent record of the artwork. The disappearance of the canvas from the property created another problem. The photograph showed where it had been, while the physical painting had moved elsewhere.

In early September 2025, a lawyer representing Patricia Kadgien handed the painting to Argentine authorities.

The portrait of Cecilia Colleoni was back in official custody.

Officials later presented the work publicly in Mar del Plata, allowing the painting to be examined after roughly eight decades away from public view.

The painting also formed part of the wider history surrounding the collection of Jacques Goudstikker.

His collection had been assembled before Nazi persecution and the seizure of Jewish-owned property scattered works across Europe and beyond. Some paintings were recovered over the decades. Others entered private collections and residences, far from the institutions and records that could identify their earlier ownership.

The Ghislandi portrait had spent years among that unresolved group.

In Mar del Plata, its location had appeared almost casually in a photograph made to help sell a house.

The image showed a sofa, a room and an old portrait hanging above it.

Recognition of the painting gave investigators a lead. Months later, the canvas was handed to Argentine authorities.

The portrait of Cecilia Colleoni could once again be examined in public.