By Canadian Press

Italian man who bought Churchill portrait surprised by international art caper

Sep 12, 2024 | 3:57 PM

OTTAWA — An Italian lawyer who bought a portrait of Winston Churchill says he was surprised to learn five months later the answer to a puzzling, high-profile heist might be hanging on his living room wall.

Nicola Cassinelli, a lawyer in Genoa, Italy, plans to attend a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome next Thursday to mark the return of Yousuf Karsh’s signed 1941 photograph of the British leader.

Police say the “The Roaring Lion” was stolen from Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier hotel sometime between Christmas Day 2021 and Jan. 6, 2022, and replaced with a copy.

It was only months later, in August, when a hotel worker noticed the frame was not hung properly and looked different than the others.

Cassinelli purchased the portrait in May 2022 at an online Sotheby’s auction for 5,292 British pounds.

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Cassinelli says he got a phone call from the auction house that October advising him not to sell or otherwise transfer the portrait due to an investigation into the Ottawa theft.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press