A thief replaced this iconic Churchill portrait with a fake one. The original was found two years later

After a two-year search, authorities have finally found an original print The roaring lionthe famous photo of Winston Churchill staring defiantly into the camera.

The portrait hung on the wall for years Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa, Canada. In 2022, employees realized it had been replaced with a copy, complete with a forged signature.

The 1941 image by Armenian photographer Yousuf Karsh appeared on the cover of To live magazine and is now on the British five pound note. Karsh took the photo after Churchill gave a speech to members of the Canadian Parliament to thank them for their war efforts.

“My portrait of Winston Churchill changed my life,” Karsh, who died in 2002, once said said. “I knew it was an important photo after I took it, but I could hardly have imagined that it would become one of the most reproduced images in the history of photography.”

Legend has it that Churchill gave the photographer just “one chance” to capture the photo that would cement his career. However, the politician did not want to let go of his cigar. Karsh plucked it from Churchill’s mouth without warning, causing the Prime Minister to make a stern and serious expression.

“He looked so belligerent he could have devoured me,” Karsh said. “It was at that moment that I took the photo.”

Karsh, who has photographed many important public figures, including Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, Elizabeth TaylorAnd Elizabeth IIhad permanently loaned his photo of Churchill to the hotel. He and his wife, Estrellita Karsh, lived many years at the castle. It was also the location of his first exhibition.

The hotel first realized something was wrong when an employee noticed that the portrait’s frame was different from the others Karsh had given to the hotel. When employees looked back at photos guests had taken with the image, it became clear that the forgery had been hanging around for about eight months.

Now, after a lengthy investigation, officials report that the statue has resurfaced in Italy. The photo will soon return to Canada.

“I thought this would never come back,” said Jerry Fielder, director of Karsh’s estate New York Times‘ Ian Austen. “There didn’t seem to be many clues.”

Estrellita Karsh “has been monitoring the entire progress of the investigation,” Fielder added. “She was just really happy that it’s now official that it’s coming home.”

According to one statement From the Ottawa Police Service, an Italian buyer purchased the photo through a Sotheby’s auction in 2022. However, because the sale took place before the portrait was reported missing, all parties involved believed the transaction was legal.

“The information we were able to obtain from Sotheby’s led to the identity of the seller and we were able to investigate him,” Akiva Geller, a detective with the Ottawa Police Service, told police. Globe and mailby Marie Woolf. The buyer, who had hung the portrait in his living room, agreed to return it to the hotel.

Authorities have arrested 43-year-old Jeffrey Iain James Wood of Powassan, Ontario and charged him with crimes including theft, forgery and art trafficking.

“Using public tips, forensic analysis and international cooperation, investigators tracked down the person responsible for the theft,” Ottawa police said in the statement. “Once in the custody of the Ottawa Police Service, the portrait will be ready for the final step of its journey home to the Fairmont Château Laurier, where it will be re-exhibited as a remarkable historical portrait.”