Portrait of Winston Churchill stolen from Ottawa hotel tracked down in Italy: police

A renowned portrait of Winston Churchill that was reported stolen from an Ottawa hotel has been tracked down in Italy, police said Wednesday, ending the years-long search for “The Roaring Lion.” 

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 Château Laurier, where it will once again be displayed as a notable historic portrait,” police said in a news release. 

Police said “The Roaring Lion” was stolen from the luxury hotel sometime between Christmas Day 2021 and Jan. 6, 2022, and replaced with a dupe. 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. 

At the time, the hotel’s general manager said the heist looked to be the work of professionals. On Wednesday, an Ottawa police representative would not answer questions about whether that was the case.

The portrait was sold through an auction house in London to a private buyer in Italy, and both seller and buyer were unaware that it had been stolen, police said. 

“With the help of public tips, forensic analysis, and international co-operation, investigators tracked down the individual responsible for the theft. Additionally, open-source research and collaboration with other agencies were key in identifying the suspect,” the force said. 

At a press conference at the hotel Wednesday afternoon, Geneviève Dumas, general manager of the Fairmont Château Laurier, said the theft happened at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“Everything was closed, and we narrowed the gap to 12 days,” Dumas said. “The way that happened, there was nobody in the hotel and we discovered it only eight months later.”

Ottawa police Det. 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. And later down the road, once we have the portrait back in Canada, we will be able to speak more about that.”

Police said they arrested a 43-year-old man from Powassan, Ont., 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 and trafficking in property obtained by crime exceeding $5,000. 

Police said they have been working with Italian authorities and the portrait’s purchaser, a private citizen from Genoa, to arrange the ceremonial handover later this month. 

The famous image was taken by Karsh during Churchill’s wartime visit to the Canadian Parliament in December 1941. 

It helped launch the career of Karsh, considered a masterful photographer of some of the 20th century’s most famed icons, including Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth. 

Dumas said Wednesday the hotel has learned its lesson. “I can guarantee you that once the work is back, it’s going to be very secured, armed. It’s not going to move off the wall.