‘Roaring Lion’ Churchill Portrait Retrieved from Italy after Canada Theft

 Canadian Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister Isabelle Mondou unveils Yousuf Karsh's "Roaring Lion" portrait of Churchill, stolen in 2022 from Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier and recovered in Italy, during a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italy, September 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Canadian Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister Isabelle Mondou unveils Yousuf Karsh's "Roaring Lion" portrait of Churchill, stolen in 2022 from Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier and recovered in Italy, during a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italy, September 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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‘Roaring Lion’ Churchill Portrait Retrieved from Italy after Canada Theft

 Canadian Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister Isabelle Mondou unveils Yousuf Karsh's "Roaring Lion" portrait of Churchill, stolen in 2022 from Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier and recovered in Italy, during a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italy, September 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Canadian Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister Isabelle Mondou unveils Yousuf Karsh's "Roaring Lion" portrait of Churchill, stolen in 2022 from Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau Laurier and recovered in Italy, during a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italy, September 19, 2024. (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.

With his hand on his hip, Churchill is seen scowling severely at the lens -- an expression that Karsh put down to the fact that he had just plucked a cigar from the prime minister's hand before releasing the shutter.

The picture hanged for years in the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel, where the Armenian-Canadian photographer used to have a studio, but staff realized in August 2022 that their original image had been replaced with a signed copy.

A subsequent investigation found that their version had gone missing during the 2021 Christmas holidays and had been sold by an auction house in London in May 2022 to lawyer Nicola Cassinelli, who agreed to return it when he found out the truth.

"I think that if Mr. Karsh donated it to the hotel, it means that he really wanted it to stay there," Cassinelli said during a ceremony in the Canadian embassy to return the work.

He said he had paid 5,200 pounds ($6,895) excluding commission at the auction and had received only a partial refund. "I didn't get all the money back, but I did get a very funny story to tell," said Cassinelli.

The hotel director said the photo was an iconic image and an integral part of its history. "Its value far exceeded its monetary worth," said Geneviève Dumas.

Canadian media said a man from Ontario had been arrested and charged over the theft.



Riding Subway Cars of 1930s New York, and Dressing the Part

 People wait to ride the Holiday Nostalgia Train in New York on December 8, 2024. (AFP)
People wait to ride the Holiday Nostalgia Train in New York on December 8, 2024. (AFP)
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Riding Subway Cars of 1930s New York, and Dressing the Part

 People wait to ride the Holiday Nostalgia Train in New York on December 8, 2024. (AFP)
People wait to ride the Holiday Nostalgia Train in New York on December 8, 2024. (AFP)

Nearly a century after the New York subway introduced its iconic "R1-9" fleet, the agency is putting some of the railcars back into service -- and city residents are jumping on board.

The Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA), which operates the Big Apple's sprawling -- and sometimes detested -- subway system, is reintroducing R1-9s onto the tracks for a limited time, complete with early 20th century accoutrements.

In one car, for instance, a 1960s-style advertisement pays tribute to "the late president" next to a black-and-white photo of John F. Kennedy.

The blast from the past -- made possible through a collaboration between the MTA and the Transit Museum -- is being celebrated by New Yorkers, with some dressing up to match the part.

On a cold December Sunday morning, travelers in period-appropriate costume stand alongside passengers in contemporary fashion, forming a delightfully anachronistic mix.

Latoya Fulton, a 40-year-old Bronx native who brought her daughter along to share the experience, savors the nostalgia.

"I remember riding the train with my mom, going to Yankee Stadium," she told AFP. "I remember just being, just happy looking out the window when we went outside for the outside stop."

Paddle ceiling fans swirl overhead and incandescent light bulbs lend a theatrical vibe.

With no public address system on the vintage trains, a volunteer crewmember is left to call out the approaching stops.

- 'Test of time' -

Rider Fox Hutson dons a military cap and camouflage jumpsuit for the journey, dressing as if he were a US soldier returning from war.

"The past is going away, but this is the only way to preserve it and see some nice people," the 53-year-old photographer said. "It's a test of time, and these things still work."

Though the R1-9 train cars were widespread for decades since being introduced in the 1930s, they were fully withdrawn from service by 1977.

The cars represent a touchstone in US history, inspiring artists like jazz legend Duke Ellington with his song "Take the A Train."

"This was the first mass transit that grew the city," said Todd Glickman, a volunteer with the Transit Museum.

"It used to be in the early part of the 1900s, people would have to live very close to where they worked and where they went to school," he went on to explain.

"And because of the advent of the subway system in 1904, people could travel in a short amount of time and that's what created the growth of the city."