This painting is a full length portrait of Lady Barber wearing academic robes and holding a book. Lady Barber was part of the Barber family who were amongst the earliest contributors to the University and established Professorships for themselves in areas such as Fine Art, Law and Music. It was in 1932 however that Lady Barber herself set up the Barber Institute of Fine Art as an onsite gallery for both students and public visitors. The painter, Nestor Cambier, was a Belgian painter who lived both in the United States and Great Britain having finished his studies at the Brussels Academy in 1900.