“Portrait of a Man”, 18th century Corsican independence leader, is for sale | art

Thirty years ago, a painting by British artist Sir William Beechey was sold as “Portrait of a Man.”

However, the anonymous buyer knew specifically who the unnamed man in the photo was: Pascal Paoli, the 18th-century Corsican independence leader and Enlightenment icon.

Since that sale in April 1994, a private collector has kept Beachy’s portrait of the man credited with giving his Mediterranean island a newly written constitution — one that would later inspire American revolutionaries — on the Mediterranean island, unseen by the public.

It is now up for auction again, this time with a correct title, in Corsica on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Pauli’s birth.

“There are a few pictures of Paoli in museums, but this one is the most important in my opinion,” auctioneer Vincent Bronzini De Carafa told The Guardian.

He said that the painting is “much more than just a work of art” and “touches the identity of our island and the ideal of European freedom,” and it shows a character who admired the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the writer Samuel Johnson in his lifetime, and who was a heroine to the young Napoleon Bonaparte.

“I come from an ancient Corsican family and feel invested in the duty to respect the cultural significance and memorials of this work of art,” De Carafa added. “It is sold in Corsica so that Corsicans can see it before they leave the island.”

Paoli, called by the Corsicans U Papo de Patria (Father of the Fatherland), has been largely forgotten outside his homeland, which at the time of his birth was under Genoese rule. As elected leader of the island between 1755 and 1769, he declared Corsica an independent republic, established a university, introduced a system of representative democracy, and wrote a constitution based largely on Enlightenment ideas.

When French forces invaded the country in 1768, Paoli oversaw the resistance movement whose defeat a year later forced him into exile to England for the first time. In London, Paoli met with King George III and was granted a royal pension after agreeing that if he returned to power in Corsica he would defend English interests against the French.

Paoli returned to head the short-lived Anglo-Corsican Kingdom between 1794 and 1796, as the island came under the protection of the British monarch during the wars that followed the French Revolution. Finally Corsica was reoccupied by France and became one of its provinces.

Paoli’s British sympathies and opposition to the guillotine of Louis XVI led to him being declared a traitor and once again forced into exile. He died in 1807 and was buried in the old churchyard of St Pancras in London before his remains were transferred to Corsica in 1889. He has a bust in Westminster Abbey.

The 1 meter (26 cm) high portrait was completed in the years before Pauli’s death.

De Carafa said: “It is the silent witness, the final message of the man of enlightenment who through this image became one of the noblest faces of European freedom.”

“Fifteen years ago, this painting would have gone straight to London to be sold,” said Eric Turquin, a French art expert and auctioneer. “London was the center of the vintage artists’ market. Brexit was the last straw; for those in my field, it was a major disaster.”

“Red tape has increased fivefold. London is still a major old Masters centre, but it is really suffering.”

If things had gone differently, De Carafa said, “Corsica could have become English.”

“Corsica has always had good relations with England, and many people have a great deal of affection for the country.”

The painting will be on display at the Ostella Hotel in Bastia on Thursday and Friday before the auction on December 13.