Stolen ‘Roaring Lion’ photo of Churchill found after two-year search

Yousuf Karsh, the Armenian-Canadian photographer, took the photo in 1941 after the war-time prime minister addressed the Canadian parliament

A stolen photograph of Winston Churchill known as “The Roaring Lion” has been found after a two-year search.
The original print was discovered in Italy after it went missing from the Château Laurier hotel in Ottawa after being replaced with a fake.
Yousuf Karsh, the late Armenian-Canadian photographer, took the photo in 1941 after Churchill addressed the Canadian parliament on Dec 30.
The photograph shows the British war-time prime minister on Parliament Hill moments after Karsh famously took a cigar out of Churchill’s mouth.
Before being pictured, Churchill lit a cigar, but Karsh did not want to capture the then prime minister with this familiar prop in his mouth. Karsh is said to have offered Churchill an ashtray, but he continued to smoke.
The photographer then reportedly removed the cigar from Churchill’s lips. “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 said.
“Then I stepped toward him and, without premeditation, but ever respectfully, I said ‘forgive me sir’ and plucked the cigar from his mouth.”
By the time Karsh returned to his camera, he said, Churchill looked “so belligerent he could have devoured me”.
In the picture the photographer captured Churchill’s furious expression during some of the darkest days of the Second World War.
Moments later, Churchill said: “You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed.”
The photograph subsequently appeared on the cover of Life magazine and was syndicated throughout the world.
Later it became the centrepiece of Karsh’s portrait books and was used on the postage stamps of several Commonwealth countries, including a £5 bank note.
On Wednesday, Ottawa police said the portrait had been found in the possession of a private buyer in Genoa, Italy, who was not aware it had been stolen.
Police also announced the arrest of a man from Powassan, Ontario, in connection with the theft and illicit sale.
The 43-year-old man faces charges for forgery, theft, trafficking and damage to property.
He was arrested on April 25, according to investigators and appeared in court in Ottawa the next day.
A staff member at the Château Laurier hotel first noticed the photograph had been replaced on Aug 19 2022.
The theft was called a “brazen act” by the hotel’s manager at the time.
Police believe the photo was stolen sometime between Dec 25 2021 and Jan 6 2022, during Covid lockdowns.
Police said the photo was sold through an auction house in London to a private buyer in Italy, but said neither party was aware it was stolen.
Canadian investigators are to travel to Rome to attend a ceremony in which the unidentified buyer will formally return the artwork later this month.
Ottawa 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.”