Serendipity often plays a part in the life of the Keeper of the Pictures.
The subject is depicted half-length, wearing blue coat and white collar, in a painted oval 29 inches by 24 inches. However, neither the attribution nor the subject are at all certain. The tentative identification of the subject is taken from an undated inscription on the reverse of the frame. The College's Joshua Reynolds picture, perhaps of Richard Hopkins. In the early part of 1999 the College received an enquiry from Dr David Mannings at Aberdeen University which has led to the establishment of what now seems to be a more certain provenance of the picture and a more plausible identification of the subject.