Portrait of a man', who was 18th-century Corsican independence leader, goes on sale

"The anonymous buyer, however, knew precisely who the unnamed man in the picture was: Pascal Paoli, the 18th-century Corsican independence leader and icon of the Enlightenment. Since that sale in April 1994, the Beechey portrait of the man credited with giving his Mediterranean island a modern written constitution one that would later inspire American revolutionaries has been held by a private collector on the Mediterranean island, unseen by the public."

"He said the painting was far more than a work of art and touches on the identity of our island and the ideal of European freedom, showing a figure who in his lifetime was admired by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the writer Samuel Johnson and was a hero to a young Napoleon Bonaparte. I'm from an old Corsican family and I feel invested in a duty to respect the cultural and memorial significance of this work of art, De Caraffa added."

Thirty years ago a Sir William Beechey portrait sold as an unnamed man was actually identified by its buyer as Pascal Paoli. The portrait has been held by a private collector on Corsica since April 1994 and remained unseen by the public until its recent reappearance for auction, timed with Paoli's 300th birthday. Auctioneer Vincent Bronzini de Caraffa described the painting as central to Corsican identity and European freedom, noting Paoli's admiration by Rousseau, Samuel Johnson and a young Napoleon. Paoli, nicknamed U Babbu di a Patria, led Corsica from 1755–1769, declared an independent republic, founded a university, introduced representative democracy and authored an Enlightenment-influenced constitution.

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