A lawyer, who paid £4,200 for an artwork of Sir Winston Churchill believing it was a cheap copy, received a major setback as he ended up in a scandal when it turned out to be the stolen original.
For his modest art collection, Nicola Cassinelli purchased The Roaring Lion, a black-and-white 1941 portrait of Churchill frowning down the lens, in 2022.
The 34-year-old was extremely delighted after his £4,200 bidding was accepted. Cassinelli received the portrait after spending £2,000 to get it cleared through customs and shipped to Genoa, Italy.
He proudly displayed it to houseguests and was “really happy” with the discovery, which has been on the Bank of England's £5 note since 2013.
However, both the advocate and Sotheby's, a fine arts auction house, were unaware that it was the original version and could fetch millions of dollars.
Amidst the ongoing investigation, Sotheby's called Cassinelli three months after the transaction and requested that he keep it in his safekeeping.
Later, he looked around online out of curiosity and found that he was involved in an art heist scandal that had puzzled people for years.
{{/usCountry}}Later, he looked around online out of curiosity and found that he was involved in an art heist scandal that had puzzled people for years.
{{/usCountry}}It was stolen from the Fairmont Fairmont Château Laurier's foyer in January 2022 and smuggled into Europe.
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Nicola Cassinelli reveals how he discovered truth
Speaking to Telegraph, he described the whole scenario as being in a movie. When he told the Canadian Police the entire tale, they asked him if he would think about returning the piece. He, however, said it was a legal sale because it hadn't been reported stolen when he purchased it.
“I went online and bought a cheap $100 poster of the same photograph and put it in the same spot,” Cassinelli said.
“I promised myself to one day go to Ottawa to see my photograph in the place where I know it should stay, because it had been gifted to the hotel by Yousuf Karsh, it is only right that it remains there,” he added.
While Sotheby's reimbursed him and covered some of his legal costs, Cassinelli lost several thousand euros.
“There was an entire nation searching for it. I just felt it was right to return it,” he said, adding that the loss did not bother him.
Churchill's portrait considered as the “most famous photo” ever shot was stolen from a luxury hotel in Canada and replaced it with a fake.