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A painting which had been missing for many years after being stolen by the Nazis has disappeared again, days after it was thought to have been found.
The portrait of Contessa Colleoni by Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi is on a database of artwork lost during World War II after being stolen by Nazi Germany.
It was amongst greater than 1,000 artistic endeavors stolen from Amsterdam-based art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, who died in 1940 in an accident at sea while attempting to escape the Netherlands.
Documents suggested the portrait of Contessa Colleoni can have ended up within the possession of Friedrich Kadgien, a senior official in Adolf Hitler’s government who moved to Argentina after the war and died in 1979.
Authorities got here near recovering the Seventeenth-century masterpiece after spotting it hanging on the wall within the background of an estate agent’s photographs of a house on the market in Argentina’s coastal city of Mar del Plata.
The property is believed to belong to certainly one of Kadgien’s two daughters, and Argentinian police raided the house on Tuesday in an try to recuperate the stolen painting.
However the painting has now gone missing again, with investigators unable to seek out it contained in the home.
Argentina federal prosecutor Carlos Martinez said: ‘We had indications that the painting could be on this residence.
‘The painting wasn’t in the home, but we seized some documents related to engravings and drawings that may provide context.
‘For the time being, we’ve two individuals under investigation – owners of the property linked to possession of the painting.’
Mr Martinez added that two weapons, a carbine and a .22 revolver, were confiscated throughout the search, but that these weren’t believed to be connected to the case.
When asked what form of crimes the 2 individuals might be charged with, he explained: ‘Initially, in keeping with customs complaints, there might be some form of concealment of smuggling here, which could be linked to crimes of genocide that occurred throughout the context of World War II, where these paintings and other documents were stolen or taken from their rightful owner.’
Lawyers for Mr Goudstikker’s estate have said they’ll make every effort to reclaim the painting.
His sole-surviving heir, daughter-in-law Marei von Saher, told the BBC: ‘My family goals to bring back each artwork robbed from Jacques’ collection, and to revive his legacy.’
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