An
original print of a famous photograph of Winston Churchill has been
found in Italy after going missing from an Ottawa hotel and replaced
with a fake.
The 1941 photo - known
as "The Roaring Lion" - was taken by Yousuf Karsh shortly after
Churchill gave a wartime speech to Canada's parliament.
On
Wednesday, Ottawa police said the portrait had been found in the
possession of a private buyer in Genoa, Italy, who was unaware that it
had been stolen.
Officials also announced the arrest of a man from Powassan, Ontario, in connection with the theft and illicit sale.
The
43-year-old man, whose name is covered by a publication ban, faces
several charges in Canada, including forgery, theft, trafficking and
damage to property.
He was arrested on 25 April, investigators say, and appeared in court in Ottawa the following day.
The
photograph shows Churchill, the British war-time prime minister, on
Parliament Hill moments after Karsh famously took a cigar out of
Churchill's mouth.
"I held out an
ashtray, but he would not dispose of it...I waited; he continued to
chomp vigorously at his cigar. I waited," Karsh later recalled.
"Then
I stepped toward him and, without premeditation, but ever respectfully,
I said 'forgive me sir' and plucked the cigar from his mouth."
A staff member at the Château Laurier hotel first noticed the photograph had been replaced on 19 August, 2022.
"We are deeply saddened by this brazen act," the hotel's general manager said in a statement at the time.
Police believe the photo was stolen sometime between 25 December 2021 and 6 January 2022, amid strict Covid lockdowns.
Police
say the photo - one of the most famous portraits ever made and which
also appears on the UK £5 bank note - was sold through an auction house
in London to a private buyer in Italy.
"Both of whom were unaware that the piece was stolen," police said in their statement.
The suspect was identified by tips submitted by the public, forensic analysis and by using "open-source research", police say.
Later
this month, Canadian investigators will travel to Rome to attend a
ceremony in which the unidentified buyer will formally return the
artwork.
"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
By the time Karsh returned to his camera, he wrote, Churchill looked "so belligerent he could have devoured me".
