Stolen portrait of Churchill handed over to Canadians in Rome

After almost three years in Eu- rope, Yousuf Karsh’s stolen war- time portrait of Winston Church- ill is finally heading home to Can- ada.

At an official ceremony on Thursday morning at the Cana- dian embassy in Rome, the famed black-and-white portrait, known as The Roaring Lion, was handed to a delegation of Canadians that in- cluded the Ottawa police, diplo- mats, government heritage offi- cials and representatives of the Fairmont Château Laurier hotel, where the piece had hung and Mr. Karsh had lived for decades.

Italy’s Carabinieri military po- lice, who helped to track down the portrait, and the Italian law- yer from Genoa, Nicola Cassinelli, who had bought the piece at a Sotheby’s auction in London in May, 2022, unaware that it had been stolen, were also present.

“I have been eagerly waiting this day for some time,” said Ge- neviève Dumas, the hotel’s gener- al manager.

The portrait “was a piece of his- tory, a moment in time captured by Yousuf Karsh, symbolizing strength, leadership and resil- ience during a pivotal moment in history.”

She said the portrait will be de- livered to Ottawa by a logistics company that specializes in the shipment of precious art. Once back in Canada, it will be placed in

a dark-brown wooden frame sim- ilar to the original frame and should be rehung in the Château Laurier by the end of next month. “Mrs. Karsh chose the frame her- self,” she said, referring to Estrelli- ta Karsh, 94, whose husband died in Boston in 2002.

The portrait was stolen some time between Dec. 25, 2021, and Jan. 6, 2022, and replaced with a

shoddy reproduction. But it took about eight months before a hotel worker noticed the portrait was crooked, which led to the discov- ery of the fake and the transatlan- tic scramble to find the original.

In April, police charged Jeffrey Wood, 43, of Powassan, Ont., in connection with the crime. He faces six charges related to forg- ery, theft and possession of stolen

property. Canadian and Italian police at the embassy handover declined to give more details of the crime. “We can’t because the case may go to court soon and we have to keep back some informa- tion for now,” said Akiva Geller, acting detective sergeant in the Ottawa police force.

Mr. Cassinelli, 34, said he will miss the portrait of Britain’s leader in the Second World War, call- ing it his cherished “roommate for nearly two years.” He replaced the original with a US$55 copy and may go to Ottawa next month for the Château Laurier re- hanging ceremony. “I am happy that this piece of history is going back to Canada and I am happy that I am part of that story,” he said.

Isabelle Mondou, deputy min- ister of Canadian heritage, praised the Canadian-Italian hunt for the Churchill portrait and Canada’s effort to curtail art trafficking.

Ms. Mondou is involved in the repatriation effort of the “Pope’s kayak,” the extremely rare, centu- ry-old sealskin Inuvialuit kayak that has been part of the Vatican Museums’ ethnological collec- tion for many decades. In 2023, Pope Francis invoked one of the commandments – “Thou shalt not steal” – to express his agree- ment on the importance of resti- tution of various Indigenous items held by the Vatican. “And then, the restitution of Indige- nous things: this is going on, with Canada, at least we were in agree- ment to do so,” he said.

Ms. Mondou said the kayak’s return “is an agreed decision” but did not have a date for its delivery to Canada, or where it would be displayed. Options include the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau or in an Inuit Nunangat region. “It’s very much the choice of the Inuit,” she said. “We are working very, very closely with our Inuit partners.”