'Roaring Lion' Churchill portrait retrieved from Italy after Canada theft

Yousuf Karsh's 'Roaring Lion' portrait of Churchill, stolen in 2022 from Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier and recovered in Italy, is unveiled during a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italy, September 19, 2024. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

ROME (Reuters) - Italy handed back to Canada on Thursday a famous photographic portrait of Winston Churchill that was stolen from an Ottawa hotel more than two years ago and sold at auction to an unsuspecting Italian lawyer.

The so-called "Roaring Lion" photograph was shot by Yousuf Karsh in 1941 just after Britain's World War Two leader had given a speech to the Canadian parliament.