BUENOS AIRES, Sept 5 — Argentine authorities have recovered an 18th-century painting stolen by Nazis from a Dutch Jewish art collector, more than a week after it was spotted in a property advertisement before suddenly vanishing.

The Portrait of a Lady by Italian baroque painter Giuseppe Ghislandi had been missing for eight decades until it was photographed hanging in the seaside home of Patricia Kadgien, daughter of SS officer Friedrich Kadgien, who fled to Argentina after World War II.

Prosecutors said the work was handed over by the family’s lawyer following a worldwide hunt that made headlines.

Art expert Ariel Bassano told reporters the piece was “in good condition for its age, as it dates from 1710,” and valued it at around US$50,000 (RM211,625), according to local newspaper La Capital Mar del Plata.

The painting was identified last week by Dutch daily AD in photos of Kadgien’s house, listed for sale in Mar del Plata. It had been stolen from Amsterdam dealer Jacques Goudstikker’s collection after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940.

But when police searched the property, the portrait had disappeared. Kadgien and her husband were later placed under house arrest after several failed raids.

According to Argentine daily La Nacion, the couple admitted owning the painting but argued any ownership lawsuit should fall under the statute of limitations. Their lawyer, Carlos Murias, said prosecutors were seeking charges of “concealing smuggling.” If linked to the genocide of Jews during the war, however, the crime would not be subject to time limits.

The investigation began when Dutch journalist Peter Schouten, probing Kadgien’s father’s past, spotted a “for sale” sign outside the house.

After checking property ads online, he recognised the painting above a green sofa in the living room.

“I freaked out, of course,” Schouten told Argentina’s Radio Rivadavia. He alerted authorities in the Netherlands, who confirmed its authenticity.

Schouten said he contacted Kadgien for comment but got no reply, and the property listing soon disappeared.

Goudstikker, a leading dealer of Italian and Dutch masters, fled the Netherlands days after the Nazi invasion. His vast collection was divided up by top German officials, including Gestapo founder Hermann Goering.

After the war, the Dutch state recovered some 300 works, most of which were returned to Goudstikker’s heirs. Many others, however, remain scattered around the world. — AFP