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OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canadian police say a famous portrait of Winston Churchill that was reported stolen from an Ottawa hotel has been recovered in Italy.
Investigators will travel to Rome later this month to retrieve the 1941 portrait of the British leader taken by Ottawa photographer Yousuf Karsh, police said in a news release.
“Once in the custody of Ottawa Police, the portrait will be ready for the final step of its journey home to the Fairmont Château Laurier, where it will once again be displayed as a remarkable historical portrait,” police said.2
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According to police, “The Roaring Lion” was stolen from the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa sometime between Christmas 2021 and January 6, 2022, and replaced with a counterfeit. The swap wasn’t discovered until months later, in August, when a hotel employee noticed that the frame wasn’t hung properly and looked different from the others.
“It was determined that the portrait was sold through an auction house in London to a buyer in Italy, both of whom were unaware that the piece had been stolen,” the press release said. “Using public tips, forensic analysis and international cooperation, investigators tracked down the individual responsible for the theft.”
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 said he was surprised to learn that the answer to the high-profile robbery might be hanging on his living room wall. He plans to attend a ceremony next Thursday at the Canadian Embassy in Rome to mark the portrait’s return.
Geneviève Dumas, general manager of the Fairmont Château Laurier, said during a press conference at the hotel on Wednesday afternoon that the theft occurred at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everything was closed and we reduced the gap to 12 days,” Dumas said. “The way it happened was there was no one in the hotel and we didn’t find out until eight months later.”
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Ottawa police Det. Akiva Gellar said the portrait was recovered after “a very extensive investigation” that lasted more than two years, but provided few details.
Much of the investigation is “still very sensitive because the case is still before the courts,” he said.
“A lot of details about how we found it, and more details will be released at the ceremony in Rome,” Gellar said. “And then later, when we get the portrait back to Canada, we can share more about it.”
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 charges including forgery, theft over $5,000 and trafficking in property obtained through crime valued at more than $5,000.
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.
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