Florence Nightingale
1 portrait of Florence Nightingale
© National Portrait Gallery, London
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Florence Nightingale
printed by Henry Lenthall, after William Edward Kilburn
albumen carte-de-visite, 1864-1877 (circa 1856)
3 3/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. (87 mm x 54 mm)
Purchased, 1945
Photographs Collection
NPG x16136
Sitterback to top
- Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), Reformer of hospital nursing and of the Army Medical Services. Sitter associated with 37 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- William Edward Kilburn (1818-1891), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 70 portraits.
- Henry Lenthall (1819-1897), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 28 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This is a print of one of the earliest photographs of Florence Nightingale. It was taken at the time of her first professional engagement as Lady Superintendent of the Upper Harley Street Establishment for Gentlewomen during Illness. Her experience of the Soho cholera epidemic in August 1854 prepared her for the devastation caused by the disease in the Crimea. Her lowered gaze perhaps gives an indication of her social reserve and unease in front of the camera.
Placesback to top
- Place made: United Kingdom: England, London (photographer's studio, 222 Regent Street, London)
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Florence Nightingale 200 years (9 December 2019 - 31 May 2020)
- Florence Nightingale 1820 - 1910 (17 May 2010 - 12 December 2010)
Events of 1856back to top
Current affairs
Queen Victoria introduces the Victoria cross, an award for British soldiers who displayed exceptional valour in battle. Each medal was produced from Russian guns captured in the British war. In 2006, Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry became the first living recipient of the Victoria Cross since 1965, for his actions in the Iraq war.Art and science
The National Portrait Gallery is founded by Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl of Stanhope, Thomas Babington Macaulay, and Thomas Carlyle, all biographers and historians. Historical rather than artistic in focus, the Gallery's aim was to collect original portraits of outstanding figures from British history, notably from politics, the arts, literature and science.Elizabeth Barrett Browning publishes her epic and autobiographical poem Aurora Leigh.
International
The Treaty of Paris ends the Crimean war. Russia concedes to the Anglo-French-Austrian Four Points of August 1854 including the guarantee of Ottoman sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia also agreed to a demilitarisation of the land islands in the Baltics, a term which lasted until the outbreak of the First World War.Britain launches the second Opium war against China.
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