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

Painting of Enlightenment figure, whose constitution for the island inspired revolutionaries in US, is up for auction

Thirty years ago, a painting by the British artist Sir William Beechey was sold as portrait of a man".

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.