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Room 23
Expansion and Empire

Room 23A large group portrait, the Secret of England's Greatness, testifying to Victorian Britain's confidence in its position as a world power greets visitors on entering this room. It is flanked either side by two portraits from the sequence of portraits of Arctic explorers by Stephen Pearce. Elsewhere in there is an area devoted to India and the Boer War in a group portrait of the Relief of Lucknow and portraits of Kitchener, Gordon and Baden-Powell, and on the opposite side of the room two large group portraits of Florence Nightingale at Scutari and Queen Victorian visiting wounded soldiers.

Room introductionRoom 23: showcase Bodelwyddan Castle

25 portraits on display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery

List Thumbnail

888

Sir John Richardson

by Bernhard Smith
plaster cast of medallion, 1842
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 888

887

Sir James Clark Ross

by Bernhard Smith
plaster cast of medallion, 1843
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 887

1559

Sir James Brooke

by Sir Francis Grant
oil on canvas, 1847
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 1559

437

Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge of Lahore

replica by Sir Francis Grant
oil on canvas, (1849)
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 437

3953

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

by Francis Cruikshank
oil on canvas, circa 1855-1859
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3953

4305

Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari'

by Jerry Barrett
oil on canvas, circa 1856
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4305

685

Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons

by George Frederic Watts
oil on canvas, 1856-1857
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 685

684

Stratford Canning, Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe

by George Frederic Watts
oil on panel, 1856-1857
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 684

6203

Queen Victoria's First Visit to her Wounded Soldiers

by Jerry Barrett
oil on canvas, 1856
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 6203

6202

The Mission of Mercy: Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari

by Jerry Barrett
oil on canvas, 1857
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 6202

1211

Sir (Francis) Leopold McClintock

by Stephen Pearce
oil on canvas, 1859
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 1211

1005

John Laird Mair Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence

by George Frederic Watts
oil on panel, 1862
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 1005

1748

Florence Nightingale

by Sir John Robert Steell
bronze bust, 1862
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 1748

4969

'The Secret of England's Greatness' (Queen Victoria presenting a Bible in the Audience Chamber at Windsor)

by Thomas Jones Barker
oil on canvas, circa 1863
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4969

661

Sir James Outram, 1st Bt

by Thomas Brigstocke
oil on canvas, circa 1863
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 661

2071

William Gifford Palgrave

by Thomas Woolner
plaster cast of medallion, 1864
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 2071

6856

Mary Jane Seacole (née Grant)

by Albert Charles Challen
oil on panel, 1869
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 6856

1070

Sir Richard Francis Burton

by Frederic Leighton, Baron Leighton
oil on canvas, 1872-1885
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 1070

1212

Sir George Strong Nares

by Stephen Pearce
oil on canvas, 1877
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 1212

6420

Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton

by Sir (William) Hamo Thornycroft
marble bust, 1880
On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 6420