Rudolf von Slatin Pasha was an Austrian soldier who was appointed Governor of the Province of Darfur. During the Mahdist Rising he adopted Islam, and in 1883 was taken captive. He remained in captivity for eleven years before escaping in a perilous three week journey across the desert. Subsequently lionized, Slatin became a Pasha of Egypt and Brigadier-General in the Egyptian army. He was with Kitchener in the campaign against Mahdist forces in the Sudan in 1898 and wrote regular and vivid reports to the Queen. In 1900 he was appointed Inspector General of the Sudan. A prominent and charming social figure he was on good terms with Queen Victoria and King Edward VII. After the First World War he met King George V again and was allowed to resume his British decorations.

Queen Victoria summoned Slatin to dine at Osborne on 19 August 1895: 'a charming, modest little man…there are lines in his face which betoken mental suffering.' After his return to Vienna, a message was conveyed that the Queen was anxious to have his portrait painted, by Von Angeli or Sohn, while he was in Vienna. It was to be life-size, head and shoulders, and in his Dervish dress. Von Angeli was paid £263 5s for the portrait on 4 December 1895.