The famed black-and-white 1941 photograph of a glowering Sir Winston Churchill was the perfect finishing touch to Nicola Cassinelli’s modest living room.

The Roaring Lion - which appears on the UK's £5 note - was swapped with a forgery during the pandemic and ended up in Italy.

Renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh snapped the iconic portrait in 1941 in the Speaker’s Office on Parliament Hill, just after Churchill delivered a rousing wartime address to Canadian lawmakers. Toward the end of his life, Karsh signed and gifted the portrait to the hotel, where he had lived and worked.

The portrait was unveiled to the public once again after it was stolen from the Fairmont Château Laurier and recovered in Genoa, Italy this year

A stolen portrait of Winston Churchill that was swapped with a forgery during the pandemic has returned to its rightful place

A stolen portrait of Sir Winston Churchill that was swapped with a forgery during the pandemic has returned to its rightful place, after two Canadian police detectives travelled to Rome to retrieve it.

The original artwork will be returned to its spot on the reading-room wall in the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel after two Ottawa police detectives travelled to Rome to retrieve it