In this painting the sitter is positioned looking at the viewer face on. The sitter here is Solly Zuckerman, or Baron Zuckerman. Born in Cape Town in 1904, Zuckerman was educated in South Africa between the years 1915 to 1924 and developed a fascination with the ape, an interest that later developed into anatomy. He moved to Britain in 1934 as a member of the Oxford University Anatomy Department, and shortly afterwards married Lady Joan Rufus Isaacs in 1939. In the same year he was offered the Sands Cox Chair of Anatomy at Birmingham University, but was prevented from accepting it straight away due to the war. When the war ended in 1945, Zuckerman accepted his post, even retaining it ona temporary basis after 1960, when he was appointed a scientific advisor to the Ministry of Defence. This painting was purchased by Arthur Thomson Trustees. The artist, Henry Mee, was a painter and graduate of Leeds University.