John Tulloch (1823-86) was appointed Principal and Primarius Professor of Theology of St Andrews University in 1854. In 1859 he became one of Queen Victoria’s Chaplains for Scotland and in 1882, Dean of the Chapel Royal and Dean of the Thistle. In 1872, after the death of Norman Macleod, whose portrait is also in the Royal Collection (RCIN 403236), he was the most prominent churchman in Scotland. The Queen described him as ‘a valued, wise friend’. Sir George Reid, Scotland’s leading portrait painter, was asked to paint a portrait the same size as Heinrich Von Angeli’s portraits of the Deans of Windsor and Westminster, also in the Royal Collection (RCIN 401376 and RCIN 406495). Signed and dated: '18. R. 80.' Inscribed on the back with the names of the artist and sitter and the date, 1881 [sic]