A renowned portrait of Winston Churchill that was reported stolen from an Ottawa hotel has been tracked down in Italy, Canadian police said.
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.
“Once in Ottawa police custody, the portrait will be ready for the last step of its journey home to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, where it will once again be displayed as a notable historic portrait,” police said.
Police said The Roaring Lion was stolen from the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, sometime between Christmas Day 2021 and January 6 2022, and replaced with a forgery.
The swap was only uncovered months later, in August, when a hotel worker noticed the frame was not hung properly and looked different than 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 was stolen,” police said. “With the help of public tips, forensic analysis and international co-operation, investigators tracked down the individual responsible for the theft.”
At a press conference at the hotel, Genevieve Dumas, general manager of the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, said the theft happened at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Everything was closed, and we narrowed the gap to 12 days,” Ms Dumas said. “The way that happened, there was nobody in the hotel and we discovered it only eight months later.”
Ottawa police detective Akiva Gellar said the portrait was recovered after “a very extensive investigation” that took more than two years but offered few specifics.
Much of the investigation is “still very sensitive because the matter is before the courts”, he said.
“A lot of the details about how we found it, and further details will be released during the ceremony in Rome,” he added. “And later down the road, once we have the portrait back in Canada, we will be able to speak more about that.”
Police arrested a 43-year-old man from Powassan, Ontario, in April and have charged him with stealing and trafficking the portrait.
The man, whose name is protected by a publication ban, faces charges that include forgery, theft over 5,000 dollars and trafficking in property obtained by crime exceeding 5,000 dollars.
The famous image was taken during Churchill’s wartime visit to the Canadian Parliament in December 1941.
It helped launch the career of Karsh, who photographed some of the 20th century’s most famous faces, including Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth II.
