Alexis Benoît Soyer
(1810-1858), Cook and writer of cookery booksSitter in 6 portraits
A French chef, in 1837 Soyer was appointed the first chef at the newly created Reform Club in Pall Mall. He helped design the kitchens, instituting many innovations; the kitchens were so famous that they were opened for conducted tours. In 1847 the government asked Soyer to install soup kitchens in Ireland to help alleviate the famine there and during the Crimean War he went to Scutari to reorganise the catering in the hospitals. Soyer wrote a number of books about cooking. A Shilling Cookery for the People (1855) was a recipe book for ordinary people who could not afford elaborate kitchen utensils or large quantities of exotic ingredients.
Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari'
by Jerry Barrett
oil on canvas, 1856
NPG 4305
The Mission of Mercy: Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari
by Jerry Barrett
oil on canvas, 1857
On display in Room 21 on Floor 2 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 6202
Florence Nightingale at Scutari. A Mission of Mercy
by Samuel Bellin, published by Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd, after Jerry Barrett
mixed-method engraving, 1858 (1857)
NPG D43044
after Robert Thomas Landells
wood engraving, published in the 'Illustrated Times' 28 August 1858
NPG D45910
by Henry Bryan Hall, after (Elizabeth) Emma Soyer (née Jones)
stipple engraving, published 1858 (1843)
NPG D6822
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