(Rome) Canadian and Italian dignitaries celebrated Thursday the successful recovery of a photographic portrait of Winston Churchill that was stolen in Canada and then found in Italy after a two-year search by police.
At a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italian carabinieri officially handed over the famous portrait to Canadian officials. Ambassador Elissa Goldberg praised the cooperation between Italian and Canadian investigators that ultimately led to the recovery of “The Roaring Lion.”
The portrait of the British prime minister, taken in 1941 by Ottawa photographer Yousuf Karsh, is now ready for the final leg of its journey back to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, the Ottawa hotel from which it was stolen and where it will once again go on display.
Ottawa police said the portrait was stolen from the hotel, and replaced with a fake, sometime between Dec. 25, 2021, and Jan. 6, 2022. But the substitution wasn’t discovered until months later, in August 2022, when a hotel employee noticed the photo wasn’t hung properly and the frame wasn’t quite the same as the others.
Nicola Cassinelli, a lawyer from Genoa, Italy, bought the portrait in May 2022 at a Sotheby’s online auction for £5,292 (about $9,530 CAD). The Genoa lawyer says he then received a call from Sotheby’s in October advising him not to sell or transfer the portrait because of the ongoing investigation into the Ottawa theft.
Me Cassinelli, who was at Thursday’s ceremony in Rome, said he thought he was buying an ordinary print. When he learned its true origin, he quickly agreed to return the famous Churchill photograph to Canada.
“I immediately decided to return it to the Chateau Laurier, because I think that if Karsh gave it to the hotel, it means that he really wanted it to stay there, because of the special meaning that this hotel had for him, and for his wife as well,” said M.e Cassinelli to the Associated Press.
The famous photo was taken by Karsh during Churchill’s visit to the Canadian Parliament in December 1941, in the midst of the Second World War. It helped launch Karsh’s career, as he went on to photograph some of the most illustrious figures of the 20th century.e century, including Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth II.
Karsh and his wife Estrellita had donated an original signed print of “The Roaring Lion” to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in 1998. The couple had lived and operated a studio at the Ottawa hotel for about 20 years.
Geneviève Dumas, general manager of the Château Laurier, said Thursday that she felt immensely grateful. “I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone involved in resolving this case, and ensuring the safe return of this priceless piece of anthology.”
Ottawa police say they arrested a 43-year-old Powassan, Ont., man in April. Jeffrey Wood is charged with counterfeiting, theft over $5,000 and trafficking in property obtained by crime over $5,000.