Almost three years after that brazen theft, roaring lion Grimace and all, it’s finally back where it belongs on the walls of Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel.
Geneviève Dumas, the hotel’s general manager, told CBC News on Wednesday that it was “so beautiful” after the renovation. “We’re really, really happy to have this part of Canadian tradition back in our home country.”
The iconic photograph of the late former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is one of the most famous portraits in the world and is considered a Canadian treasure.
This photo was taken by renowned Canadian photographer Youssef Karsh in 1941, shortly after Churchill gave his wartime speech in Parliament House. It depicts Churchill glaring into the camera lens — and, as Karsh would later say, ripped his favorite cigar from his fingers just before pressing the shutter button. Body.
That image became known as roaring lion It symbolized Britain’s wartime resolve. It is now the face of the Bank of England’s £5 note, which has been issued in countless locations around the world for decades.
Karsh himself later lived at the chateau and in 1998 gifted the following print to the hotel. roaring lionwhich for years hung in the hotel’s reading room just off the main lobby.
However, from Christmas Day 2021 to January 6, 2022, Ottawa was on lockdown due to COVID-19, and the hotel was still open but virtually deserted, so the portrait was stolen. It was replaced with a framed fake on the wall. It contained a forged Karsh signature.
The crime went unnoticed until August of the following year, when hotel staff noticed something unusual and a thorough inspection revealed that there had been a robbery.
The theft quickly made international headlines, and Ottawa police investigators began a multi-country investigation on two continents that ultimately led to the item being purchased by a man from Genoa, Italy, through a London auction house. I figured it out.
The buyer had no idea that he had acquired a treasured piece of Canadian history. Not to mention that it wasn’t stolen. When the police contacted me, I agreed to return it immediately. He was handed over to Canadian authorities at the Canadian embassy in Rome in September.
Enhanced security
The portrait was then shipped to Ottawa, where it was cleaned, reframed and finally quietly rehung in its original spot in the reading room, just off the main lobby, on Wednesday.
The recovered portrait is now in its location, heavily protected by significantly enhanced security equipment.
Italy has returned Winston Churchill’s famous roaring lion photo to Canada in a ceremony in Rome, two years after it was stolen from Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel.
“It’s like Fort Knox,” Dumas said. “It’s not moving.”
Indeed, on Wednesday morning, when the delivery team returned the newly framed photos to the walls, they accidentally activated the new alarm system, causing a momentary panic among the hotel’s security staff.
“As soon as someone touches it or moves it, the alarm goes off,” Dumas said. And she said, “Noisy.”
For now, the portrait is covered with a curtain. The portrait will be unveiled Friday morning at a special invitation-only ceremony to mark the portrait’s official return to the hotel.
will be displayed in full
The viewing room itself is still in the final stages of a months-long renovation and will not reopen to the public until Monday, when the portrait will be unveiled to all.
Visitors will notice that on the wall right next to the re-hung photo is an original brass plate marking Karsh’s masterpiece.
While the portrait was gone, the photo was left in its place to highlight the empty space it once was. Dumas always said he left it there with hope. roaring lion Will come back someday.
And now it has happened.
All of this unfolded while Jeffrey Wood, 43, of Powassan, Ont., was awaiting the next steps in the case against him. Wood was arrested in April and charged with multiple crimes, including theft, forgery and human trafficking. His next court appearance is scheduled for March 3 in Ottawa.
An email sent by CBC News to Mr. Wood’s lawyer on Wednesday was not returned.
How did they get out of the hotel?
Ottawa police cite public information, forensic evidence and international cooperation as helping to recover the portrait, but not the investigation and theories as to how it was pulled from the wall and leaked outside the hotel. has said little so far. .
Back in 2021, this portrait was secured with special bolts that required special knowledge and unique tools to undo. And although investigators were eventually able to recover the photos, it remains unclear how the crime was committed.
Italy has returned Winston Churchill’s famous roaring lion photo to Canada in a ceremony in Rome, two years after it was stolen from Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel. The repatriation came after an international investigation that included surprising leads from CBC’s Paul Hunter.
Indeed, when Dumas examined the newly hung portrait on Wednesday, she was struck by its size, but once again puzzled by the story behind its theft.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, this portrait is so big,'” she said. “How could I leave with this without anyone noticing?
“I still want to know that part of the story, the ‘how’.”
