Three quarter length portrait, the sitter looking slightly to the right and wearing Vice Chancellor's robes red robes with a gold trim over his light coloured suit and tie. His right hand is visible but his left is concealed and he is sitting infront of a dark background.

Sir Raymond Priestley, famous as an Antarctic explorer, became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham from 1937 to 1952. Trained as a geologist he embarked on the 'Nimrod' expedition to the Antarctic under the command of Ernest Shackleton in 1907. He came to Birmingham after 2 years at Melbourne University. The artist, Arthur Middleton Todd, was the son of the artist Ralph Middleton Todd. This painting was commissioned by the University of Birmingham in 1954.