10 OF 25 
The Mission of Mercy: Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari
10 of 25 portraits on display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
The Mission of Mercy: Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari
by Jerry Barrett
oil on canvas, 1857
55 1/2 in. x 83 3/4 in. (1410 mm x 2127 mm)
Purchased with help from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and The Art Fund, 1993
Primary Collection
NPG 6202
Click on the links below to find out more:
Artistback to top
- Jerry Barrett (1824-1906), Painter. Artist associated with 8 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.
Sittersback to top
- Jerry Barrett (1824-1906), Painter. Sitter in 2 portraits, Artist associated with 8 portraits.
- Charles Bracebridge (died 1872). Sitter in 1 portrait.
- Selina Bracebridge (died 1874). Sitter in 1 portrait.
- Mary Clare (Georgina Moore) (1814-1874), Reverend mother. Sitter in 1 portrait.
- William Cruickshank (died 1858), Army medical officer. Sitter in 1 portrait.
- Sir William Linton (1801-1880), Army physician. Sitter in 3 portraits.
- Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), Reformer of hospital nursing and of the Army Medical Services. Sitter associated with 33 portraits.
- Lord William Paulet (1804-1893), Field Marshal. Sitter in 1 portrait.
- Mrs Roberts (active 1855-1857), Nurse. Sitter in 1 portrait.
- Robert Robinson (active 1857). Sitter in 1 portrait.
- Charles Sillery, Colonel. Sitter in 1 portrait.
- Alexis Benoît Soyer (1810-1858), Cook and writer of cookery books. Sitter in 4 portraits.
- Sir Henry Knight Storks (1811-1874), Lieutenant-General. Sitter in 4 portraits.
- Miss Tebbut. Sitter in 1 portrait.
This portraitback to top
Few people came out of the Crimean debacle with credit, but Florence Nightingale's campaign on behalf of the sick and wounded British soldiers was one of the great achievements and made her a national hero. She had travelled to Scutari, a suburb of Constantinople, in October 1854, where she transformed the appalling conditions at the Barrack Hospital and laid the foundations for lasting reforms in nursing care. Clearly highlighted near the centre of Barrett's painting, she is shown receiving casualties in the quadrangle of the hospital.
Related worksback to top
Linked publicationsback to top
- Victorian Portraits Resource Pack, p. 14
- Cooper, John, Visitor's Guide, 2000, p. 73
- Cooper, John, A Guide to the National Portrait Gallery, 2009, p. 40
- Funnell, Peter, Victorian Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery Collection, 1996, p. 14
- Funnell, Peter (introduction); Marsh, Jan, A Guide to Victorian and Edwardian Portraits, 2011, p. 52
- Hart-Davis, Adam, Chain Reactions, 2000, p. 89
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 729
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On display in Room 23 at the National Portrait Gallery
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