Joseph Lister was a British surgeon who founded antiseptic medicine and was a pioneer in preventative medicine. He was raised to the peerage in 1897 and appointed one of the original 12 members of the Order of Merit in 1902. There is a memorial to Lord Lister by Thomas Brock in Westminster Abbey.

The Order of Merit was founded on the Coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 and recognises exceptional contributions to the arts and sciences. The Order is restricted to 24 members, each of whom is personally appointed by Her Majesty The Queen. In 1907, King Edward VII initiated a tradition of commissioning portraits of members of the Order of Merit by the artist William Strang, whose coloured chalk drawings on buff or pale pink paper consciously echo the Holbein drawings in the Royal Collection. The commissions fell into abeyance with the outbreak of the First World War, but the tradition was revived by The Queen in 1987. Portraits of newly appointed members of the Order of Merit continue to be commissioned and added to the Royal Collection.