THE EARLIEST known portrait of a black African Muslim will go on show at a North-East art gallery from tomorrow.

The oil painting of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo is on special loan to the South Shields Museum and Art Gallery from the National Portrait Gallery.

The portrait is the focus of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums’ programme of events for Black History Month 2012. When World’s Meet: The Intriguing Story of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo will be on display until March 9, 2013.

The painting was originally thought to be lost but resurfaced a few years ago and was purchased by the Qatar Museum Authority, who have loaned it to the National Portrait Gallery for five years.

It is being loaned in turn to only three museums in the UK. Painted by William Hoare of Bath in 1733, it was the first time an African was depicted as an individual and an equal.

Diallo was born into a devout Muslim family in 1711 in Africa. Whilst on a trading mission, he was captured and taken into slavery and then transported to America and sold to a plantation owner.

After a series of chance encounters, he found his way to England and because of his literacy, faith and personal resilience in the face of adversity, Diallo was widely admired and introduced to high society.

Geoff Woodward, manager of South Shields Museum & Art Gallery said: “How Diallo, a high-status West African and also a freed slave, came to have his portrait painted by a prominent society artist in eighteenth century England is an absolutely amazing story.

“It reveals a complex meeting of cultures and societies; this exhibition will showcase the stories behind this remarkable portrait on loan from the National Portrait Gallery.”