Portrait Appeal

London's National Portrait Gallery has launched an appeal to raise £100,000 toward the £555,000 needed to save this painting for the nation: William Hoare's Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (1733). The subject is an ex-slave who was invited to England by lawyer Thomas Bluett. That's a religious book - the Bible or the Koran - dangling from his neck. The Heritage Lottery Fund and The Art Fund will also contribute to the cost of the painting. You can see it at the National Portrait Gallery, where it is on temporary display.