ROME (AP) — Canadian and Italian dignitaries celebrated Thursday the successful recovery of a photographic portrait of Winston Churchill known as “The Roaring Lion,” which was stolen in Canada and recovered in Italy after a two-year search by police.
During a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italian Carabinieri police officers presented the portrait to the Canadian Ambassador to Italy, Elissa Goldberg. She praised the collaboration between Italian and Canadian investigators that led to the discovery.
The 1941 portrait of the British leader, taken by Ottawa photographer Yousuf Karsh, is now ready for the final leg of its journey home to the Fairmont Château Laurier, the Ottawa hotel where it was stolen and where it will be put on display again as a remarkable historical portrait.
Canadian police said the portrait was stolen from the hotel sometime between Christmas 2021 and Jan. 6, 2022, and replaced with a forgery. The swap wasn’t discovered until months later, in August, when a hotel employee noticed the frame wasn’t hung properly and looked different from the others.
Nicola Cassinelli, a lawyer in Genoa, Italy, bought the portrait in May 2022 at an online Sotheby’s auction for £5,292. He said he received a call from the auction house in October advising him not to sell or otherwise transfer the portrait because of an investigation into the theft in Ottawa.
Cassinelli, who attended Thursday’s ceremony, said he thought he was buying an ordinary print and decided to quickly mail the iconic photo of Churchill home when he learned the true story behind it.
“I immediately decided to give it back to the Chateau Laurier because I think if Karsh donated it to the hotel, it meant that he really wanted to leave it there, because of the special meaning that this hotel had for him and also for his wife,” Cassinelli told The Associated Press.
The famous photograph was taken by Karsh during Churchill’s visit to the Canadian Parliament in December 1941. It was the start of Karsh’s career, photographing some of the 20th century’s most famous icons, including Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth.
Karsh and his wife Estrellita donated an original, signed print to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in 1998. The couple lived and operated a studio at the hotel for nearly two decades.
Geneviève Dumas, general manager of the Fairmont Château Laurier, said Thursday that she felt immense gratitude.
“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone involved in solving this case and safely returning this priceless piece of history.”
Police arrested a 43-year-old man from Powassan, Ontario, in April and charged him with theft and trafficking in the portrait. The man, whose name is protected by a publication ban, is charged with forgery, theft over $5,000 and trafficking in property obtained by crime valued at more than $5,000.
