Later Victorian Portraits Catalogue

Contemporary portraits from life
Contemporary portraits not from life
Rejected portraits
Posthumous portraits
Photographs

Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints [1]

Contemporary portraits from lifeback to top

1820
Watercolour by unidentified artist, full-face, as a baby, in arms of Italian nurse; Claydon House Trust. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.467; repr. Bostridge 2008, pl.3.

c.1822–3
Pen and ink sketch by Julia Smith, whole-length, rear view, at left, with her father, William Edward Nightingale, and sister Frances Parthenope; Claydon House Trust. Repr. Woodham-Smith 1950, p.9; and Dossey 1999, p.7.

c.1823
Sketch by ?Julia Smith, whole-length facing, peering from behind her mother, Fanny Nightingale; Claydon House Trust. Repr. Bostridge 2008, pl.2.

1824
Watercolour drawing by Alfred Edward Chalon, signed and dated 1824, Florence whole-length, full-face, right hand wound around mother’s wrist, sister Parthenope at left; Claydon House Trust, displayed in Nightingale’s bedroom at Claydon, Bucks. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.467, no.3, where dated c.1828.
At the end of Nightingale’s life the watercolour hung in her bedroom at South Street, London (see below, ‘Photographs, 1906, poses (a) and (b)’).
Another version, Parthenope in feathered cap; untraced. Repr. as photogravure by Emery Walker, Wellcome L., London, no.545083i; and Cook 1914, vol. 1, frontispiece, where dated 1828.
One of these versions exh. RA 1824 (539, ‘Mrs Nightingale and her daughters’). Other versions said to exist, as well as a copy by Parthenope Nightingale.

later 1820s
Pencil drawing by Parthenope Nightingale, whole-length seated to left, reading a letter; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0003.

c.1831
Pencil drawings by George Cattermole, two known poses:
(a) inscr. ‘Florence’ on reverse, head-and-shoulders, profile to right, looking down; Claydon House Trust, 13/47.
(b) head-and-shoulders, three-quarters to left, wearing straw hat; Claydon House Trust, 13/47. Repr. Bostridge 2008, dustjacket, as Florence.

c.1835–c.1850s
Large collection of pencil drawings and watercolours (loose sheets, sketchbooks and albums) by Parthenope Nightingale (from 24 June 1858 Lady Verney), mainly undated, recording events at Lea Hurst, Derbys, and Embley Park, Hants, showing Nightingale reading, sewing, playing the piano etc. (some of later 1850s drawings are imaginary and based on letters and reports); Claydon House Trust, file N13/47, and albums N13 and N434 (some drawings displayed at Claydon, and some others loaned to Florence Nightingale M., London). A selection is listed here.

c.1836
Watercolour by William White; see NPG 3246.

c.1839
Drawing by Joanna Hilary Bonham Carter, back view, seated with Parthenope at piano; Bonham Carter Family Papers, Hants Record Office, 94M72, on loan to Florence Nightingale M., London (2014).

Pencil drawing by Parthenope Nightingale, three-quarter-length profile to right, seated at piano; Florence Nightingale M., London (no further details). Repr. Bostridge 2008, pl.6.

c.1845
Pencil drawing by Joanna Hilary Bonham Carter, inscr. with initials, profile to right, lowered gaze, hair knotted at nape; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0107. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.468, no.6.
Photograph by Emery Walker, NPG, E. Walker neg. box no.925/5.
Another photogravure by Emery Walker; publ. Cook 1914, vol.1, facing p.38.
Considered by the family to be one of the best early likenesses. [2]

1846
Chalk drawing by Elizabeth, Lady Eastlake (née Rigby); see NPG 3254.

c.1846
Sepia wash drawing by Parthenope Nightingale, whole-length seated to right, profile, reading beside fireplace, Embley Park, Marianne Nicholson at right; Florence Nightingale M., London, 0004; see Bridgeman AL, FNM321928. Ref. Stephen 1936, p.10.

1851
Watercolour drawing by Parthenope Nightingale, inscr. ‘Flo and Athena 1851’, whole-length to left, on terrace, holding owl; Claydon House Trust, 13/47.

c.1852
Drawing by Elizabeth, Lady Eastlake; untraced; in 1914 ‘in bad condition and believed to have been destroyed’. Ref Cook 1914, vol.2, p.468.
Copy by John Robert Parsons after Eastlake, c.1880, a ‘large pencil head’; untraced; at Lea Hurst, 1914, and seen by B. Stephen in 1936. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.468, no.8; and Stephen 1936, p.6.

1853
Portrait by Joanna Hilary Bonham Carter, Paris, winter 1853; untraced. Ref. Bostridge 2008, p.183.

1854
Watercolour sketch by Parthenope Nightingale, inscr. ‘Florence Nightingale at Embley – meditating on her great enterprise 1854’, whole-length to right, seated by fireplace; untraced; Bonhams, 9 Mar. 2004 (135, ill.).

publ. 1854
Drawings by Joanna Hilary Bonham Carter, two known poses:
(a) head-and-shoulders, three-quarters to right, looking to right, wearing cap, scarf at neck and shawl; untraced.
Engr. by Richard James Lane after Bonham Carter, lettered ‘Miss Nightingale’, printed by Day & Son and publ. 26 Nov. 1854 by Paul & Dominic Colnaghi; coloured print coll. Wellcome L., London, no.7449i.
The lesser-known of two drawings by Bonham Carter publ. in 1854, three weeks after Nightingale’s arrival in Scutari. Possibly not from life.
(b) half-length seated to left, head lowered, reading book, a crucifix on ribbon around neck, flower in hair; untraced. Ref. Cook 1914, vol,2, p.468, no.11; repr. Tooley 1910, facing p.48.
Engr. by Richard James Lane after Bonham Carter, lettered ‘Miss Nightingale’, printed by Day & Son and publ. 28 Nov. 1854 for Paul & Dominic Colnaghi’s Authentic Series; copies colls NPG D38970; NPG D22261; NPG D22404 (oval format); NPG SB (Nightingale); Florence Nightingale M., London, 0005 (colour lithograph); Royal Coll., RCIN 659458; and Wellcome L., London, no.7448i. Repr. Argyll/Lorne 1901, p.226 (image reversed).
Wood-engr. by K.N. Woods after Lane (image reversed), publ. Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, vol.3, 1854–5, p.281, captioned ‘Miss Nightingale’; repr. [Ward, Lock] c.1884, vol.2, p.543 (see Bridgeman AL, LLM662579).
This drawing based on intimate acquaintanceship and a knowledge of the photograph by Julius Cornelius Schaarwächter (see below, ‘Photographs, 1850’).
An influential early image.

publ. 1855
Drawing by unidentified artist, possibly Edward Angelo Goodall, [3] whole-length to right, standing between rows of patients in hospital beds, headscarf tied under chin, oil lamp in right hand; untraced. [4] A photograph in NPG SB (Nightingale) relates to the drawing; and see MEPL, London, 10443630. See also Dossey 1999, p.153, for another related sketch, credited Florence Nightingale M., London (no further details).
Repr. as wood-engr., ILN, 24 Feb. 1855, p.176: ‘Although the public have been presented with several portrait-sketches of the lady who has so generously left this country to attend to the sufferings of the sick and wounded at Constantinople, we have assurance that these pictures are “singularly and painfully unlike.” We have, therefore, taken the most direct means of obtaining a Sketch of this excellent lady, in the dress she now wears, in one of “the corridors of the sick,” in the Hospital at Scutari’ (ILN, 24 Feb. 1855, p.175); copy NPG D5364. Repr. Keller 2013, p.18, fig.11.

Associated images based on ILN image:
(a) chromolithograph by Max Beeger and A. Simeon, scene reversed and with minor variations; publ. Jacomme et Dufat, Paris, 1856, for series ‘Les Actualités’, lettered in French and English; copies colls Florence Nightingale M., London, 0460; and NAM, NAM.1984-10-56-1.
(b) engraving by unidentified engraver, whole-length profile to right; publ. Harper’s Weekly, 6 June 1857, front cover; copies NL of Medicine/Science Photo L., H414/0029; and H414/0053 (coloured engravings).
The ILN print of 24 Feb. 1855 was the single most influential image of Nightingale in Crimea.

Drawing by unidentified ILN artist, whole-length standing to right, in group with Alexis Soyer and soldiers; untraced. Repr. as wood-engr., ILN, 12 May 1855, p.453, captioned ‘M. Soyer’s Hospital Kitchen, at Scutari Barracks’; copy Wellcome L., London, no.22790i.
Drawing by Henry George Hine based on ILN print; untraced. Repr. Soyer 1857, captioned ‘The Barrack Hospital Kitchen, Scutari’.

Drawing by Parthenope Nightingale, whole-length standing, full-face, right arm resting on pedestal on which sits small owl; [5] Claydon House Trust. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.468, no.7, where dated 1850, suggesting the drawing was made some time before publication in 1855; repr. Woodham-Smith 1950, frontispiece.
Engr. by Francis Holl after Parthenope Nightingale, publ. Paul & Dominic Colnaghi, 6 June 1855; copies colls NPG D5365; NT, Claydon, Bucks, 27411.36; and Wellcome L., London, no.7446i.
Wood-engr. after Holl publ. Illustrated Times, 2 Feb. 1856, front cover; see MEPL, London, 10643716. Repr. Tooley 1910, facing p.208.
Watercolour copy by unidentified artist, Science M., London, A661274/1.
A popular image during the Crimean War though ‘deprecated’ by Nightingale herself. [6]

Drawing by ‘E.M.’, whole-length, rear view, riding horse in procession up rocky path; untraced. Repr. as wood-engr., ILN, 23 June 1855, p.621, captioned ‘Miss Nightingale visiting the Hut Hospitals, at Balaclava’; proof copy NAM, 1968-06-328-1; copies colls Wellcome L., London, no.21286i; and Science Photo L., London, H414/0114 (coloured engr.).

c.1855
Watercolour by Count Grabowski (no further details); untraced. Repr. as photograph; NAM, 1978-11-29-10.

1856
Pencil, pen and ink and grey wash sketch on scrap of tissue paper by Jerry Barrett, whole-length standing to right with arms extended, in group; Friends’ House L., London, Henry Newman Papers, Temp MSS 1005/15, album titled ‘Scraps by J. Barrett’, p.30.
This is a working sketch by Jerry Barrett in Scutari drawn at the end of May 1856 for The Mission of Mercy (see below). Only the silhouette of Nightingale is recognisable in the group. [7] See [Newman] 1910, p.545, for reference to Barrett in May 1856 deciding ‘after great search’ on the Scutari composition.

Watercolour and pencil drawings by Jerry Barrett; see NPG 2939 and NPG 3303.

Oil on canvas by Jerry Barrett, study for The Mission of Mercy: Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari (see below); see NPG 4305.

Drawings by the Hon. George Cadogan, in Crimea, two known poses:
(a) pencil, inscr. ‘Florence Nightingale May 1856 / Miss Nightingale’s hair had been cut short after an illness’, bust profile to left; NAM, 1998-06-128-70. [8]
(b) pencil, pen and watercolour, inscr. ‘Florence Nightingale May 14 ’56 her own signature. / Miss Nightingale done from nature but not advance[d] enough to be very like – (the profile in the small book is more like)’, whole-length, full-face (unfinished); NAM, 1998-06-128-71.

Watercolour drawing by Anne Ward Morton, dated 2 June 1856, seated reading in her room, Scutari, with Mary Smith and Eliza Roberts; LMA, St Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/A/II/016. For an earlier description of Nightingale’s appearance, and her Barrack Hospital rooms in Dec. 1855, see O’Malley 1931, pp.346–7.

Pencil drawing by Parthenope Nightingale, inscr. ‘FN just home from Scutari’, standing reading whole-length to right, profile showing short hair; Claydon House Trust, 13/47.

publ. 1856
Watercolour drawing by William Simpson, whole-length standing in Barrack Hospital ward, holding paper, with a soldier; patients on raised platforms, and huddled around stove; untraced. [9]
Chromolithograph by E. Walker after Simpson, publ. by Paul & Dominic Colnaghi, 21 Apr. 1856, for Simpson 1856, pl.34, captioned ‘One of the Wards of the Hospital at Scutari’; copies colls BM, 1866,1114.693 and 1944,0405.2.1; Wellcome Library, London, nos 24566i and 21465i; and Science Photo L., London, C018/2952 and C013/0223. Repr. Shepherd 1991, vol.2, pl.17.
A well-known image.

Drawing by Robert Thomas Landells (ILN artist), half-length reclining, profile to left, in carriage drawn by trotting mules; untraced. Repr. as wood-engr., ILN, 30 Aug. 1856, p.207, captioned ‘Miss Nightingale’s Carriage at the Seat of War’; print Florence Nightingale M., London; see Bridgeman AL, FNM336879 and UIG542378. Repr. Logan 2008, p.82. Drawing by Henry George Hine based on Landells; untraced. Repr. Soyer 1857 (no further details). c.1856 Pencil drawing by Parthenope Nightingale, whole-length, full-face, based on photograph by {William Edward Kilburn} (see below, ‘Photographs, c.1856, pose (a)’); Claydon House Trust, 13/47.

Pencil drawing by Parthenope Nightingale, whole-length seated to left, with Sir John McNeill and Dr John Sutherland in War Office Commission group; Claydon House Trust, 13/47.

publ. c.1856–7
Drawing by Henry George Hine, seated at veteran’s bedside, taking down his last words; untraced. Repr. as wood-engr., Soyer (1857), captioned ‘Miss Nightingale and the Dying Soldier’; [10] see Wellcome Images M0003663.
A related wood-engr., ‘A Culinary Campaign by A. Soyer’, publ. Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, vol.16, Feb. 1858, p.330 (almost certainly the US edition).

Drawing by unidentified artist, whole-length standing to right in hospital ward, looking back towards patient at left; untraced. Lithograph publ. by George Henry Davidson, sheet music cover titled ‘The Nightingale’s Song to the Sick and Wounded’ score, front cover, 1857; NPG D42825 [11]; and History of Medicine Coll., Duke U., Durham, NC, image 01894.

1857
Oil on canvas by Jerry Barrett, study for The Mission of Mercy: Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari (see below), signed and dated 1857, whole length, full-face; untraced; formerly Jeremy Maas; Christie’s, 31 May 2012 (83). Exh. Victorian Painting, J.S. Maas, London, 1979 (1).
This oil sketch is the same size as NPG 4305 (see above, ‘1856’), but there are fewer figures.

Oil on canvas by Jerry Barrett, The Mission of Mercy: Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari; see NPG 6202.
Pen and ink sketch by Barrett of the painting; see NPG 2939a.
Mixed-media engraving by Samuel Bellin after Barrett; publ. Thomas Agnew & Sons, Manchester and Liverpool, Apr. 1858, titled ‘Florence Nightingale at Scutari: A Mission of Mercy’; copies colls NPG D43044 (undated); NAM, 2004-10-51-8 (Apr. 1858); BM, 1903,0420.4 (artist’s proof, dated 1 Nov. 1860); and NT, Claydon, Bucks(dated 1861). Ref. Bostridge 2008, p.267. [12]
See Claydon House Trust Archive, N431 for an undated sheet of notes in pencil and ink, attributed to Nightingale, identifying some of the sitters in Bellin’s print.

Oil on canvas by Jerry Barrett, 560 x 850mm (‘the reduced version’), [13] The Mission of Mercy: Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari, whole-length, head to left, untraced; FAS, 1984; Forbes Magazine Galleries, New York; Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh, 1 Nov. 2011 (246)

publ. 1858
Pen and ink outline drawing attributed to Jerry Barrett, key to NPG 6202 (see above, ‘1857’); untraced. Repr. as lithograph, printed by Day & Son, publ. by Thomas Agnew & Sons, Manchester, titled ‘Key Plate to Mr. Barrett’s Picture / Florence Nightingale at Scutari’; BM, 2010,7081.7383; and Claydon House Trust.
The key is undated but would have been published to accompany Bellin’s print.

1859
Oil on canvas by Jerry Barrett, signed and dated 1859, whole-length standing three-quarters to left, with Selina and Charles Holte Bracebridge in a Turkish street scene; Wellcome L., London, no.45757i. Repr. Shepherd 1991, vol.2, pl.19.
Barrett painted this scene three years after his trip to Scutari (May–July 1856), when he met Nightingale, though she never posed for him. The Bracebridges had left by May 1856, but posed for him in London in 1857; for further details see NPG 6202.

?later 1850s
Watercolour drawing by Lady Anne Blunt, whole-length seated to left, holding paper, with Parthenope Nightingale on settee; untraced. Exh. Bearne’s, Exeter, 6–7 Nov. 2007 (506, ill.).

1859–65
Busts by John Steell, head turned and looking down to her left, wearing cap and plain cloak fastened at neckline, 11 known versions, in marble and in bronze:
(a) marble, inscr. and dated ‘JN. STEELL. R.S.A. Sculpt. Edinburgh. 1862’; Embley Park, then Claydon from 1896 until Nightingale’s death; bequeathed to Royal United Services Institution, London; since 1963 NAM, 1963-10-193-1. Exh. International Exh., London, 1862 (p.147 of cat., no further details); and Victorian Era Exh., London, 1897 (no further details). Ref. Steell Scrapbooks, NL Scotland, MS.FB.m.55 (4 vols), vol.3, p.5 (press cutting); Cook 1914, vol.2, p.469, no.17; and Lieuallen 2002, vol.2, p.67, no.83.
Photographed at Claydon by Samuel Glendenning Payne & Son, publ. Sphere, 20 Aug. 1910 (obits).
Drawing by unidentified artist after photograph by Payne; Wellcome Library, London, no.13287i.
The prime version.
(b) marble, inscr. and dated as (a); Derby MAG, 827-121. Ref. Lieuallen 2002, vol.2, p.67, no.84.
(c) bronze, inscr. and dated as (a); Florence Nightingale M., London, 0399. Ref. Lieuallen 2002, vol.2, p.67, no.85. This bronze cast made by A. Parlanti (no date), as was (d) below. In 2002 the museum was still publishing full-size, limited-edition replicas of the bust.
(d) bronze; see NPG 1748.
(e) marble, inscr. and dated ‘JN. STEELL. R.S.A. Sculpt. Edinb. / 1865’; Wilton House, Salisbury. Ref. Lieuallen 2002, vol.2, p.68, no.87. The only known marble of this date.
(f) bronze, inscr. and dated as (a); cast from (d) by John Galizia & Son Ltd., 1959; commissioned by British community in Düsseldorf for presentation to district of Kaiserswerth; untraced, stolen from a Kaiserswerth park 1976. [14] Ref. Lieuallen 2002, vol.2, p.68; photographs of unveiling by British consul, NPG SB (Nightingale). For details of commission see NPG RP 1748.
(g) bronze, inscr. and dated as (a), cast from (d) by Art Bronze Foundry, London, 1977; commissioned by City of Düsseldorf, to replace bust stolen from park in 1976, see (f) above; for details of commission see NPG RP 1748.
(h) bronze, inscr. and dated as (a); cast from (d) by Art Bronze Foundry, London, 1977, commissioned by Kaiserswerth H. (Kaiserswerther Diakonie), Düsseldorf, 1977; displayed hospital lobby. Ref. Lieuallen 2002, vol.2, p.68, no.88; for details of commission see NPG RP 1748.
(j) bronze, inscr. and dated as (a); Queen’s Hall, Victoria Memorial, Kolkata (no further details).
(k) marble; Royal Buckinghamshire H., Aylesbury. This bust, fixed to a carved wall bracket in the entrance hall, is presumably a replica of (a). [15]
(l) Coloured plaster copy of (d), commissioned by Denoyer-Geppert Co., Chicago, in May 1943; untraced. [16]

exh. 1862
Plaster statuette by Joanna Hilary Bonham Carter, whole-length standing, with right hand raised to shield lamp; untraced. Exh. International Exh., London, 1862 (cat., p.141); this or another version RA 1864 (1027).
Work on different versions lasted years: Bostridge (2008, p.257) claims it was begun in 1856, while Woodham-Smith (1950, p.362) describes one version (in Nightingale’s words ‘a horrid little thing’) finished 1860, and another one started: ‘the head of the first [statuette] was united with the body of the second’ and the second version ‘was, by advice of Mr Woolner, R.A., made less full in the skirt’ (Cook 1914, vol.2, p.469, no.15, dated 1856). Cook listed ‘several replicas, or versions with some differences’ incl. a large plaster version formerly in a glass case at Nightingale School of Nursing, St Thomas’ H., London (visible in photograph of nurses’ dining hall: see Bridgeman AL, FNM336887) and another large plaster (painted bronze) in library niche, Claydon (see undated watercolour attrib. Margaret, Lady Verney, showing this plaster still unpainted in Claydon library niche; Claydon House Trust). For two other large plasters see versions at Claydon (unpainted, missing hands); and St Mary’s Convent & Nursing Home, Chiswick. Ref. Paget 1912, which recorded six plasters (no dimensions).
An edition of smaller statuettes in Copeland Parian ware was issued to ‘friends and institutions’; examples Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0367 and FNM 0344; Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD (see undated photograph of ‘The Nightingale Corner at the Johns Hopkins School of Nurses’, History of Medicine Coll., Duke U., Durham, NC, image 01881); and Claydon House Trust. For a collection of photographs of the statuette and larger statues at Claydon, see Claydon House Trust, photograph box 10/5/78.
Later stone version by unidentified sculptor in niche over door, Nightingale House, London Road, Derby; the building was erected in 1904 (during Nightingale’s lifetime but 40 years after Bonham Carter’s death).
Drawing by Bonham Carter of the statuette, viewed profile to right; untraced.
Stipple engr. by Charles Henry Jeens after Bonham Carter’s drawing, publ. Yonge 1864 (vignette, title page); copies colls BM (no further details); and History of Medicine Coll., Duke U., Durham, NC, image 01873.
For a sculpture similar to Bonham Carter’s, see below, ‘Posthumous portraits, 1912’, a marble statue by Walter Merrett.

?1866
Oil on canvas by George Frederic Watts, half-length, turned three-quarters to right, left unfinished; Watts G., Compton, COMWG.152).
‘About Mr Watts, I really have a scruple against sitting,’ Nightingale wrote in August 1864. [17] The painting was not included in Mary Watts’s MS catalogue of the works of G.F. Watts (photographic copy of MS, NPG Archive). Nightingale is almost unrecognisable in her middle-aged corpulence; she was said to be ‘fat’ already in 1861 (Bostridge 2008, p.331). Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.469, no.18; repr. Gould 2004, p.73. The painting has been dated 1864 (Cook 1914, vol.2, p.469; and Gould 2004, p.73), and 1868 (Watts G. online cat.). Evidence in the Verney Papers, Claydon House Trust, suggests there were two sittings in summer 1866; see Bostridge 2008, pp.331, 596.

?1877
Watercolour drawing by Elizabeth Southerden (née Thompson), Lady Butler, signed with monogram ‘ECT’, head-and-shoulders three-quarters to right, wearing a cap; priv. coll.
Inscription on mount states painted when Nightingale was 57. As her birthday was on 12 May and Thompson married and became Elizabeth Butler 11 June 1877, it suggests the work was done between those dates. An unusual close-up of Nightingale’s head, this appears to be a rare portrait from the 1870s.

1887
Oil on canvas portrait by Sir William Blake Richmond, half-length, propped against cushion, full-face, looking to right, wearing lacy headscarf (the ‘transparent white kerchief laid over her hair and tied under her chin’; Cook 1914, vol.2, p.305); [18] Claydon House Trust. Exh. RA Winter 1956–7 (461); ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.469, no.19, where dated 1886–7: ‘1887 was the year of the final sittings; the portrait was begun at an earlier date’.
Nightingale ‘was persuaded to sit to Richmond on the ground that no portrait of her would otherwise exist’. [19]. Writing to Richmond on 17 Oct. 1887, Nightingale reported Parthenope Verney’s satisfaction with the commission: ‘How can I thank you for your picture of me: for my sister is more than delighted with it!!’ [20] Richmond was also pleased with the outcome: ‘Miss Nightingale was a most impressive person. I used to see much of her at Claydon House … and there it was that I painted her, and somehow I like that picture of mine because it is quite truthful. Miss Nightingale was not a beautiful woman. She was sad-looking, consumed with an ideal which she could not reach’ (Stirling 1926, p.153).
Photograph by Emery Walker; NPG, E. Walker neg. box nos 1070/2 and 1070/3; repr. as photogravure, Cook 1914, vol. 2, frontispiece; print Wellcome L., London, no.7459i (ref. Burgess 1973, p.264, no.2151.18).

1907
Watercolour drawings by Frances Amicia de Biden Footner, wearing lacy headscarf, in bed, South Street, London, three known poses; (a) and (b) are highly finished:
(a) signed, half-length sitting up, full-face, looking slightly to left, book on lap, bowl of flowers on table; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0785.
(b) signed and dated 1907, half-length reclining, looking three-quarters to right, jug of roses on table; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0026. A replica belonged to Joanna Hilary Bonham Carter; untraced (Stephen 1936, p.9).
Coloured print after this watercolour; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0763.
(c) on board, signed and dated ‘Aug. 1907’, bust only, slightly to right, full-face, head in lacy headscarf turned to viewer; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0456.
Photograph of this drawing by Emery Walker: NPG, E. Walker neg. box no. 1022; and a colour photograph by Walker, Wellcome L., London (no further details). Ref. Burgess 1973, p.264, no.2151.19.
Photogravure by Emery Walker, Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0510. Repr. Cook 1914, vol.2, facing p.418.
All exh. Kensington Fine Arts Society, 1919. ‘Miss Footner’s first important commission was for a portrait of Florence Nightingale, then in her late 80’s and nearly blind. This had to be done in secret from behind a screen in the bedroom, as Miss Nightingale had a strong aversion to being portrayed. … In 1908 a copy [of one of the three portraits] was done for Miss Elizabeth Bosanquet’ (Leslie 1978, p.7). this copy untraced. Cook (1914, vol.2, p.469, no.23, where dated 1907) refers to two watercolour drawings and a replica. A ‘chalks’ by Footner signed and dated 1907, sold Foster, 2 July 1928 (62), may refer to one of the above.

1908
Pencil and chalk drawing by Lady Feodora Georgina Maud Gleichen, signed and dated ‘F.G. 1908’, half-length in bed, wearing lacy headscarf and looking to left, right hand visible; Royal Coll. (no further details). Ref. Cook 1914, vol. 2, p.469, no.24; and Stephen 1936, p.3 (‘much too hard and heavy’).
One of a series of portraits of recipients of the Order of Merit, commissioned by Edward VII (Nightingale received the award 5 Dec. 1907).
Repr. as lithograph; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0758.
A photograph of the drawing reg. for copyright by Donald MacBeth, 1910 Sep. 9: National Archives (COPY 1/549/72).
For Gleichen’s later statue of Nightingale, 1912, and the St Thomas’ H. Florence Nightingale Medal, 1914, see below, ‘Posthumous portraits’.

Drawing by Augustin Rischy, half-length, full-face, against pillows; untraced. Repr. Black & White, 21 Mar. 1908, p.361 (to report conferral of award of Freedom of the City of London, 16 Mar. 1908), captioned ‘the illustrious lady as she is now’; see Wellcome Images V0015400; copy History of Medicine Coll., Duke U., Durham, NC, image 01892.

Undated contemporary portraits from life
Watercolour drawing by Joanna Hilary Bonham Carter, whole-length back view on pony; Bonham Carter Family Papers, Hants Record Office (no further details). Repr. Dossey 1999, p.6.

Contemporary portraits not from lifeback to top

Mainly prints and illustrations. Many imaginary/generic images featuring Nightingale were produced during and after the Crimean War, and gained authority through publication. To make clear the distinction between the portraits from life (see above), rejected portraits (see below), and these partially or completely fanciful images, the most famous are listed below.

publ. 1854
Drawing by unidentified artist, three-quarter-length to right, with bowl, bending over patient; untraced. Repr. as wood-engr., Punch, 4 Nov. 1854, p.184, over verses titled ‘The Nightingale’s Song to the Sick Soldier’; see Bridgeman AL, XJF872734; and Getty Images 463913137. The issue appeared coincidentally the very day of Nightingale’s arrival in Constantinople.

Drawing by unidentified artist, female profile on a nightingale’s body, perched beside patient; untraced. Repr. as wood-engr., Punch, 11 Nov. 1854, p.194 (no caption); see Bridgeman AL, XJF872733. A satire directed at women ‘of rank & fashion’ going to nurse in Crimea.

Drawing by unidentified artist, signed ‘W’, as bonneted bird carrying a jug, flying over cliffs of Dover; untraced. Repr. Punch, 25 Nov. 1854, p.215, captioned ‘The “Jug” of the Nightingale’ (‘jug’: the nightingale’s cry).

Punch was also quick to publish an (unillustrated) poem on her return from Crimea; see ‘The Nightingale’s Return’, Punch, 23 Aug. 1856, p.73.
These Punch drawings are important as representing the earliest published ‘images’ of Florence Nightingale anywhere.

Drawing by unidentified artist, whole-length to left, in group at centre of hospital ward, profile hidden by bonnet; untraced. Repr. as wood-engr., ILN, 16 Dec. 1854, p.625, captioned ‘The New Barrack-Hospital, at Scutari’.

?c.1854
Pen and ink drawing by unidentified artist, possibly Parthenope Nightingale, inscr. and dated ‘Scutari Nov / 54’, whole-length kneeling to left with soldiers lying on mats; untraced. Repr. as lithograph; copies colls LMA, St Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/A/II/; Florence Nightingale M., London, 0759; and Wellcome L., London, no.7455i. Ref. Burgess 1973, p.263, no.2151.6.
This intriguing image probably not from life but based on accounts in correspondence. A print was exh. Nightingale Centenary Exh., RCS England, London, 1954.

1855
Pen and ink drawings by Parthenope Nightingale for booklet ‘Life and Death of Athena, an Owlet from the Parthenon’; illustrations and preparatory sketches include two seated portraits and one whole-length standing to left by window; Claydon House Trust, 13/47. [21]

Pencil drawing by Parthenope Nightingale, whole-length standing to left, inscr. ‘F. among the graves at Scutari July 1855’; Claydon House Trust, 13/47. An example of Parthenope’s use of written accounts to sketch from.

publ. 1855
Drawing or painting by Henry Barraud, crouched to left by prostrate soldier, writing letter, three nurses in background; untraced.
Chromolithograph by John Alfred Vinter after Barraud, titled ‘Works of Mercy: Therapia Hospital, January 1 1855’, publ. R. Ackermann, 19 Feb. 1855; copies colls Florence Nightingale M., London, 0016; and Wellcome L., London, nos 9978i and 9982i. Repr. Huxley 1975, facing p.84; and Keller 2013, p.110, fig.83.

Chromolithograph by and after Thomas Packer, The Great Military Hospital at Scutari, whole-length, standing, profile to right, wearing dark dress and white lace cap, offering drink to patient, with doctor and nurse in attendance on crowded ward, publ. Stannard & Dixon, London, 24 Feb. 1855; Wellcome L., London, no.24565i. Repr. Keller 2013, p.108, fig.80.

Oil on canvas attrib. to J. Butterworth (no further details), whole-length, standing to right with lamp (costume and pose close to image publ. ILN, 24 Feb. 1855, see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints etc., Contemporary portraits from life, publ. 1855’), soldier with bandaged head in bed at right, undated; Wellcome L., London, no.45755i.
Mixed method mezzotint by Charles Algernon Tomkins after Butterworth, publ. 30 June 1855 by Lloyd Brothers & Co, London, titled ‘Florence Nightingale An Angel of Mercy Scutari Hospital 1855 / … Feb.y 1855’; Florence Nightingale M., London, 0043; copies colls BM 2010,7081.6619; and Wellcome L., London, nos 9974i and 9975i.

c.1855
Watercolour drawing by Louisa Anne Beresford (née Stuart), Marchioness of Waterford, kneeling at right, offering drink to soldier; untraced. Repr. as chromolithograph, titled ‘Reading the Queen’s Letter, Scutari Hospital’, publ. Vincent Brooks; copies colls Royal Coll. RCIN 751018; and LMA, St Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/A/I/009. Repr. Keller 2013, col. pl.10.

Pencil drawing by Parthenope Nightingale and Lady Anne Blunt, after a sketch by Selina Bracebridge [in Crimea], whole-length on horseback, profile to left, with Charles Bracebridge, illustrating an actual episode on Cathcart’s Hill, Crimea, 8 May 1855; both images untraced.
Unsigned preparatory sketches, possibly by Selina Bracebridge; Claydon House Trust, 13/47.
Repr. as lithograph, publ. Day & Son; copies colls BM 1932,0614.8; NAM, NAM.1983-08-90-1; and Wellcome L., London, no.21437i. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.468, no.11, where dated 1855; repr. O’Malley 1931, facing p.306; and Woodham-Smith 1950, facing p.219.

Pencil and wash drawing by Parthenope Nightingale, inscr. on attached label ‘Lord Raglan visiting Florence Nightingale at Balaklava’, seated to left in bed receiving Lord Raglan; Claydon House Trust.
This drawing, of an event that took place 24 May 1855, displayed in Nightingale’s bedroom, Claydon, Bucks (2014). A good example of Parthenope’s half-imaginary/half-factual images of Florence in Crimea.
Related pencil sketches; Claydon House Trust. Repr. Bostridge 2008, endpapers.

publ. c.1855–6
Drawing by J. Hind, whole-length standing to left in hospital ward, between nurse holding tray and soldier with arm in splint; untraced. Repr. as engr. by G. Greatbach, publ. London Printing and Publishing Co., captioned ‘Miss Nightingale in the Hospital at Scutari’; copies colls Wellcome L., London, no.21266i; NAM, 1969-10-274-1; and Science Photo L., London, H414/0014.

Drawing by Charles William Sheeres, three-quarter-length seated to right, holding papers; untraced. Repr as engr. by Sheeres, Tooley 1910, p.133, captioned ‘The Lady-in-Chief in her quarters at the Barrack Hospital’.

Chromolithograph by and after Joseph Austin Benwell, whole-length standing to left in vaulted ward, oil lamp held high, captioned ‘Florence Nightingale in the Military Hospital at Scutari’, publ. Peter Jackson, Caxton Press, London and Liverpool, n.d.; copies colls NAM, 1978-10-57-1; and Wellcome L., London, no.21276i. Repr. Tooley 1910, facing p.69; and Keller 2013, col. pl.11.

Drawing by unidentified artist, half-length, three-quarters to left, bare-headed, collar trimmed with lace and dark bow; untraced. Repr. as wood-engr., Cassell’s Illustrated Family Paper; Science Photo L., London, H414/0139; see Bridgeman AL, QGA936836 and QGA936958.
See NPG D33870 and NPG D33871 for 1910 tracings of this print.

1856
Drawing by ‘A.D.’ dated 1856, after lithograph by R.J. Lane (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, publ. 1854, pose (b)’); Florence Nightingale M., London, 0515.

exh. 1856
Painting by Thomas Jones Barker, The Allied Generals with the Officers of their Respective Staffs before Sebastopol, Nightingale kneeling to left, bottom right-hand corner, attending to wounded soldiers; priv. coll. Exh. London, 1856 (no further details). [22]
Print by Charles George Lewis after Barker, titled ‘The Allied Generals with the Officers of their Respective Staffs Before Sebastopol’, Nightingale no.61 in published key, publ. Agnews, 21 Aug. 1859; copies colls BM 1868,0612.1643 (proof); and NT, Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk, 1396314.

publ. 1856
Lithograph by ?H. Boddington, whole-length standing in ward, framed in archway looking to left, illustrating 1855 poem by ‘H.A.’, titled ‘An Address in Aid of the “Nightingale Testimonial”’; sheet publ. Day & Son, 17 Mar. 1856; Florence Nightingale M., London, 0612; see Wellcome Images M0015999.

Drawing by Elston (no further details), whole-length to left in landscape, leaning on pedestal, [23] with flowers and ribbons in hair and wearing shawl; untraced.
Stipple engr. by T.H. Ellis after Elston, publ. Ellis, London, 1 May 1856, captioned ‘Miss Florence Nightingale / The Soldier’s Friend’; copies colls Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM0457; and Wellcome L., London, no.9976i. Ref. Burgess 1973, p.263, no.2151.10.
See also:
(a) chromolithograph by unidentified lithographer (?c.1856), half-length, debased version of image by Elston, titled ‘Miss Florence Nightingale’; copy NPG SB (Nightingale).
(b) miniature by J. Rawlins, three-quarter-length standing to left in oval, close to image by Elston, but wearing elaborate dress with flounces and little cape, and holding book in right hand, bearing sitter’s facsimile signature; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM0766. Repr. as lithograph, score of ‘The Soldier’s Friend’, front cover; [24] see Wellcome Images L0000042.

Design by Robert Neal Hind, whole-length crouching, profile to left with dying soldier, scene lit by torchlight; untraced. Steel engr. by D.J. Pound, captioned ‘Battle Field of the Alma / Night after the Battle’, publ. 1856; see Bridgeman AL, STC104098.
A frankly imaginary scene: the Battle of the Alma was 20 Sep. 1854, and Nightingale arrived in Turkey on 4 Nov. 1854.

Drawing by unidentified artist of a statue, whole-length standing, wearing cloak and sash embroidered ‘Scutari’, [25] assisting soldier on crutch, relief of Good Samaritan on statue base; untraced. Repr. as wood-engr., Punch, 30 Aug. 1856, p.81, captioned ‘Mr. Punch’s design for a statue to Miss Nightingale’.
Note similarity of this design with statuette group by Theodore Phyffers (see below, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits not from life, exh. 1857’).

Sketch by unidentified artist, three-quarter-length standing to left, offering newspaper to soldier; untraced. Repr. as wood-engr., The British Workman, 1856, p.60 (no further details); see MEPL, London, 10090937.

reg. 1856
Painting or drawing by Juan Buckingham Wandesforde, whole-length to left, seated reading in Turkish kiosk, view of Bosphorus and Constantinople in background; untraced.
Engr. by William Wellstood after Wandesforde, reg. New York 1856; publ. for subscribers to periodical Albion, New York, 1857; Wellcome L., London, no.9977i. Ref. Burgess 1973, p.263, no.2151.11.
Wandesford based his figure of Nightingale on R.J. Lane’s engraving after Bonham Carter’s drawing (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, publ. 1854, pose (b)’).

c.1856
White-metal medal by John Pinches Ltd, London, undated, figure on obverse based on Nightingale image by Joanna Hilary Bonham Carter (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, publ. 1854 (b)’); design on reverse based on jewel presented to Nightingale by Queen Victoria in Nov. 1855. Many copies in existence, incl. colls NPG D7043; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM0245 and FNM0074; M. of London A9307; Science M., London, A109870; and NAM, 1979-07-133-1.
Bronze version; V&A, 1930-1877.

1857
Pencil drawing by Sir George Scharf; see NPG 1784.

exh. 1857
Statuette group (material unknown) by Theodore Phyffers, whole-length standing in cloak and wearing sash embroidered ‘Scutari’, assisting soldier on crutch; untraced. Exh. RA 1857 (1248, ‘Miss Nightingale supporting a wounded Crimean Soldier, in the Scutari Hospital’).
Parian ware statuette manufactured by Copeland; copes colls NAM, 1966-04-1, where dated c.1856; and Science M., London, A656236; see Wellcome Images L0058883. Repr. Keller 2013, p.111, fig.84.
Note similarity of Phyffers’s design to ‘Mr. Punch’s design for a statue to Miss Nightingale’ (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculpture and prints, Contemporary portraits not from life, publ. 1856’).

publ. 1857
Portrait chargé drawing by Percy Cruikshank, whole-length to right (not caricatured), cooking over range; untraced. Repr. as chromolithograph, Cruikshank 1857; [26] copies of booklet colls NPG L.; and Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, DK 509.C78 1857.

publ. 1858
Drawing by Pierre-Gustave-Eugène Staal, three-quarter-length standing, full-face, arms folded, wearing necklace with cross; untraced.
Steel engr. by William Henry Mote after Staal, publ. in Clarke 1858 (no further details); Wellcome L., London, no.7447i; see also Bridgeman AL, GLH710118.
In Nightingale’s iconography, the necklace with cross is first seen in the drawing by J.H. Bonham Carter, publ. by R.J. Lane (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, publ. 1854, pose (b)’).

mid to late 1850s
Watercolour drawing by unidentified artist, as a young woman, three-quarter-length standing, wearing shawl, head turned to viewer, holding book; untraced. Repr. Bystander, 17 Aug, 1910, supplement, captioned ‘A Souvenir of Florence Nightingale’.

Drawing by unidentified artist, half-length profile to left, wearing knotted headscarf similar to that in image publ. ILN, 24 Feb. 1855 (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, publ. 1855’); untraced.
Stipple engr. by C. Cook after above drawing, publ. G. Routledge & Co., London, with Nightingale’s facsimile signature; Wellcome L., London, no.7450i. Ref. Burgess 1973, p.263, no.2151.10.

Drawing by unidentified caricaturist, whole-length standing, as old woman in bonnet holding a candlestick, in chaotic storeroom; untraced. Exh. Nightingale Centenary Exh., RCS England, London, 1854, where titled ‘Mis-management’; repr. Huxley 1975, p.100.

publ. 1860
Sepia-toned wash drawing signed ‘H H’, half-length seated, three-quarters to right, wearing a pendant (similar to jewel presented to Nightingale by Queen Victoria, Nov. 1855), letter and book clasped in both hands, trellis with vine on left, sea at right; untraced. Photograph in NPG SB (Nightingale).
Steel engraving by J. Moore (no further details) close to this drawing, printed by C. Jeffreys and publ. 1860, titled ‘Miss Nightingale / When pain and anguish … A Ministering Angel Thou’; copies colls Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM0020; and Wellcome L., London, no.7457i. Ref. Burgess 1973, p.264, no.2151.16. The hairstyle and striped shawl appear to reference the photograph by Schaarwächter (see below, ‘Photographs 1850’).
A head-and-shoulders detail was borrowed to illustrate a well-bred female type; see Wells 1866, where captioned ‘Contrasted Faces’. [27]

publ. 1863
Painting by John Dalbiac Luard, three-quarter-length, full-face and wearing bonnet, attending a soldier (who feeds a nightingale), on ship deck; untraced.
Although Luard was in Crimea winter 1855–6 he probably never encountered Nightingale; the figure is certainly idealized.
Mezzotint by William Henry Simmons after Luard, 1863; Wellcome L., London, no.9981i.

publ. 1866
Pen and ink drawing by Joseph Barlow Robinson, whole-length standing, three-quarters to left, holding paper, owl on pier at left; untraced. Repr. Robinson 1866, facing p.25, captioned ‘Florence Nightingale / Lea Hurst, Derbyshire’.
Barlow has conflated two popular 1850 images here: the drawing by Parthenope Nightingale (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, publ. 1855’) and the photograph by Kilburn (see below, ‘Photographs, c.1856, pose (a)’).

unveiled 1867
Bronze relief by John Henry Foley, whole-length standing, with Crimean veterans, on plaque representing scene from Royal Herbert H., Woolwich; this plaque set into front of pedestal of Sidney Herbert memorial, Waterloo Place, London. See Getty Images 3375842.

1872
Painting by Alonzo Chappel, half-length to left, hands resting on chairback next to soldier’s jacket and cap; untraced; coll. H.J. Johnson, New York, 1872. Repr. as steel engr., Duyckinck 1873, vol.2, p.532; copy Wellcome L., London, no.7458i; see also Bridgeman AL, XRD1705472. Ref. Burgess 1973, p.264, no.2151.17.
Pose closely based on photograph by Kilburn (see below, ‘Photographs, c.1856, pose (c)’).

publ. 1876
Portrait chargé drawing by unidentified artist, whole-length standing, three-quarters to left, holding book titled Charity; untraced. Repr. as engr. by Laurent Petit & Co. for Hornet, 23 Aug. 1876, p.79 (‘Men and Women of the Day no. 32’); copy LMA, St. Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/I/025.
Pose loosely based on photograph by Kilburn (see below, ‘Photographs, c.1856, pose (a)’).

publ. 1886
Drawing by unidentified artist, whole-length to right in hospital ward; untraced. Repr. as wood-engr., The Historical Scrap-Book, Cassell & Co., London, 1886; see Bridgeman AL, LLM671089.
Pose and costume derived from celebrated ILN image publ. 24 Feb. 1855 (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, publ. 1855’)

publ. 1891
Oil painting by Henrietta Rae, three-quarter-length standing to right, wrapped in thick white shawl, holding oil lamp over soldier; untraced.
Chromolithograph based on Rae, publ. Cassell & Co., 1891, titled ‘“The Lady with the Lamp” (Miss Nightingale at Scutari, 1854)’; copies colls NAM, 1993-06-124-1; and Wellcome L., London, no.9983i.
Repr. as large wood-engr., Cassell’s Illustrated History of England (no further details); see Bridgeman AL, STC393211.

exh. 1893
Oil on canvas by Annie Louise Swynnerton (née Robinson), standing among sick and wounded in Scutari hospital; untraced. Exh. central panel in mural, east vestibule, Woman’s (sic) Building, World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893; ref. Elliott 1894, pp.237–9; [28] Crawford 2001, p.669; and Fraser 2014, p.172.

exh. 1897
Bust by unidentified female sculptor; untraced. Exh. Victorian Era Exh., London, 1897; ref. exh. cat., Women’s Work section, p.32, no. 39.

publ. 1904
Oil painting by William Hatherell, as a young woman, three-quarter-length standing in ward, offering drink to a patient; untraced. Repr. Graphic, 19 Nov. 1904 (double page spread), captioned ‘The Heroine of Fifty Years ago: Miss Florence Nightingale in the Hospital at Scutari’; copy Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM0446.

publ. 1910
Watercolour drawing by ?Sarah Tooley, head-and-shoulders resting against pillow, wearing lacy headscarf and looking at viewer; untraced. Repr. Tooley 1910, facing p.340, captioned ‘Miss Nightingale as She Is To-day (From a Memory Sketch.)’. Nightingale died 13 Aug. 1910.

Undated contemporary portraits not from life

Wax relief by unidentified sculptor, head-and-shoulders profile to right in oval, wearing lacy collar; Wellcome L., London, no.45756i.

Drawing by Charles Armitage, whole-length standing, profile to right, wearing headscarf, with doctor and nurse attending patient, loosely based on drawing by Thomas Packer (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits not from life, publ. 1855’); untraced.
Engr. by James-Charles Armitage after C. Armitage, lettered ‘Miss Nightingale & the Nurses in the East’; Wellcome L., London, no.21262i; see Bridgeman AL, KW271316.

Woodcut by unidentified artist of nurse standing profile to left, to illustrate sheet music of ballad ‘The Nightingale in the East’ (‘On a dark lonely night on the Crimea’s dread shore’); Wellcome L., London, WMS 5484. Repr. Logan 2008, p.84.
Various ballads and broadsides were illustrated with popular prints; for a selection of illustrated Crimean War ballads see Bodleian L., Oxford.

Statue by unidentified sculptor, whole-length seated, as a heavy older woman, looking to right, book on lap; Glasgow Royal Infirmary (main lobby); originally Schaw Auxiliary H., Bearsden, Glasgow (opened 1895). Repr. McDonald 2010, p.140.

Design for window by unidentified artist, whole-length standing, full-face, holding candlestick in right hand, labelled ‘Florence Nightingale’; untraced.
Stained-glass window at Glasgow Royal Infirmary chapel; see Collected Works of Florence Nightingale website.

Plaster statuette by unidentified sculptor, whole-length seated on bench, head turned to right, holding lantern in her right hand; NT, Hardwick Hall, Derbys, 1129351.1.

Marble bust by unidentified sculptor, wearing lace cap and clothes often associated with Nightingale, but not a likeness; untraced; priv. coll. 1983. Photograph NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

Oil painting by Frank Dadd; untraced. Repr. as coloured print, titled ‘The Lady with the Lamp’; LMA, St Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/A/I/013.

Watercolour sketch by unidentified artist, in Barrack H., Scutari; LMA, St Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/A/I/014.

Pencil and wash drawing by unidentified artist, half-length to left, arms crossed, in oval; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM0777.1. Pose based on photograph by Kilburn (see below, ‘Photographs, c.1856, pose (a)’).

Watercolour by unidentified artist, on lace paper mat, head and shoulders to left; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM0366. Pose based on photograph by Kilburn (see below, ‘Photographs, c.1856, pose (a)’).

Oil on board by unidentified artist, half-length seated with letter in her right hand; Wellcome L., London, no.45754i. The head is a rough likeness after photograph by Kilburn (see below, ‘Photographs, c.1856, pose (a)’).

Watercolour by unidentified artist, half-length, three-quarters to left; Royal College of Nursing, London, Archives, P/30/1/3. Based on detail of photograph by Kilburn (see below, ‘Photographs, c.1856, pose (a)’).

Oil painting on marble by unidentified artist, whole-length facing, holding paper; Wellcome L., London, no.45753i. A copy of photograph by Henry Hering (see below, ‘Photographs, later 1856–early 1857, pose (a)’).

Gouache on paper drawing by unidentified artist, three-quarter-length in oval; Claydon House Trust (no further details). A copy of photograph by Henry Hering (see below, ‘Photographs, later 1856–early 1857, pose (a)’).

Watercolour miniature by unidentified artist, half-length seated with book; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM0027. The head is a rough likeness after photograph by Henry Hering (see below, ‘Photographs, later 1856–early 1857, pose (a)’).

Drawing by unidentified artist, whole-length to right, oil lamp in raised left hand, nursing at Scutari H.; untraced; see Getty Images 2630559.
A post-Crimea image: Nightingale’s clothes show the artist was familiar with Kilburn’s photographs of c.1856.

Watercolour miniature by ?John Lord, bust, profile (no further details); Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 1977 (642).

Design by unidentified artist for glass panel, whole-length standing, head profile to right, holding oil lamp, towel and bowl, looking down at patient, inscriptions including ‘Scutari’ and ‘Blessed are the Merciful’; untraced.
Stained-glass panel; priv. coll.; see The Collected Works of Florence Nightingale website.

Rejected portraitsback to top

The following contemporary paintings, drawings and sculptures claim to represent Nightingale but are spurious.

c.1840
Miniature by unidentified artist, after Alfred E. Chalon, head in oval; untraced; Bonhams & Brooks, 2 July 2001 (218, ‘said to be Florence Nightingale’).

1846
Marble bust by unidentified sculptor; untraced; Sotheby’s, 1 Mar. 1972 (102). Photograph NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

1850
Marble bust by Joseph Towne, inscr. and dated 1850, head framed in ringlets, [29] low-cut lacy bodice; Russell-Cotes AG & M., Bournemouth. Photograph NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

1855
Coloured chalks drawing by Alexander Blaikley, signed and dated 1855, head-and-shoulders; untraced. Offered to NPG 1970 (offer no. 94/70), declined.

Painting attrib. to Thomas Gandy, inscr. on reverse ‘Thomas Gandy / London / June / 55’, three-quarter-length seated slightly to left, wearing lacy cap, lace collar and cuffs; untraced. Photograph NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

c.1855
Oil on canvas by unidentified artist, three-quarter-length to left, full-face, wearing a lace cap and holding a rose; Royal London H. M. and Archives, RLHINV/98.

1856
Chalk drawing by D. MacDonald, signed and dated 1856; untraced; Sotheby’s, 11–14 Feb. 1986 (3062A).

1857
Oil on canvas by unidentified artist, signed and dated ‘George Scharf 1857’, half-length seated, full-face framed in ringlets, [30] wearing low cut bodice; Wellcome L., London, no.582558i; in 1929 with Oppenheim & Co., see NPG NoS (Nightingale).

mid-late 1850s
Sardonyx cameo by Luigi Saulini, head-and-shoulders profile to right in oval; Met., NY, 40.20.54.

1864
Oil on canvas by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, Florence Nightingale at Scutari, signed and dated 1864, three-quarter-length seated to right beside patient in shadowy ward, right arm resting on table; untraced; formerly Debra Force Fine Art Inc., NY. Exh. Metropolitan Fair, New York, 1864 (178); Great North-Western Fair, Chicago, 1865 (128); Inter-State Industrial Exposition of Chicago, 1876 (487); ref. Bostridge 2008, p.364; see Antiques and Fine Art Magazine website.

1874
Polychrome plaster bust by Thomas Woolner, signed and dated 1874, inscr. at front ‘(Florence Nightingale)’; untraced. Offered to NPG (offer no. 94/88), declined.
The features do not correspond to Nightingale’s at all.

Undated rejected portraits
Oil on panel by Augustus Leopold Egg, Unknown Woman; NPG 1578.
From 1910 to 1937 this portrait was called ‘Florence Nightingale’. It was presented as a gift to – and accepted as a likeness by – the NPG in Oct. 1910, two months after Nightingale’s death; and a chromolithograph by H. Blackburn Hart after Egg was publ. by Museum Galleries in 1925. Nightingale’s family, and her biographer E.T. Cook, always doubted it was a portrait of Nightingale. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.467, no.5.
Pencil drawing by unidentified artist after Egg; Claydon House Trust (no further details).

Oil on canvas by unidentified artist, as a young girl, three-quarter-length to left, holding a letter, landscape background; untraced; priv. coll., Canada, 1958. Photograph NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

Silhouette painted on glass, whole-length, profile to left; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM0362. Exh. Nightingale Centenary Exh., RCS England, London, 1954 (no further details).

Painted silhouette, whole-length, profile to left, holding letter; Wellcome L., London, no.45752i.

Drawing by George Richmond, half-length, full-face, right hand raised; untraced; Sotheby’s, Jan. 1985 (no sale details). Photograph NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

Painting by unidentified artist, three-quarter-length, wearing sash embroidered ‘Scutari Hospital’, offering drink to patient; untraced; Sotheby’s, 8 Nov. 1967 (155). Photograph NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

Oil on canvas by unidentified artist, inscr. on reverse ‘Miss Nightingale as she appeared before the Queen [at] Balmoral’, three-quarter-length seated to right, hands on lap; untraced; priv. coll. 1984. Photograph NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

Painting by Henry E.J. Browne, inscr. on reverse ‘Nightingale’, head-and-shoulders to left, seated; untraced; Sotheby’s, 1 Apr. 1980 (217, ill.). Photograph NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

Wax medallion by Richard Cockle Lucas, profile to right, as an elderly woman, wearing lacy cap; untraced. See pen and ink sketch of the medallion by Sir Charles John Holmes, dated 2 Nov. 1910, inscr. ‘Supposed portrait medallion of Miss Florence Nightingale by Richard Cockle Lucas. Seen at 10 South St. Does not agree either in date or features with other portraits of her’; NPG NoS (Nightingale).

Oil on canvas by unidentified artist, three-quarter-length seated slightly to left, as an older woman dressed in black, holding an open book; Wellcome L., London, no.45726i.

Chalk drawing by unidentified artist, in frame labelled ‘Florence Nightingale’, half-length to right, wearing frilled cap, hands clasped on lap; untraced; formerly Westminster H., London, by whom offered to NPG (offer no. 59/40). Photograph NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

Marble bust by unidentified sculptor, called ‘Florence Nightingale’; untraced; Christie’s, 21 May 1959 (10). Photograph NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

Marble bust by Patrick MacDowell, called ‘Florence Nightingale’; Russell-Cotes AG & M., Bournemouth. Photographs colls Wellcome L., London, no.13288i; and NPG SB (Nightingale), marked ‘doubtful’.

Posthumous portraitsback to top

publ. 1910
Watercolour by George Soper, three-quarters standing to left, as a nurse, holding oil lamp and bowl; untraced. Repr. [Daily News] 1910; see Getty Images 188006923.
Lantern slide of Soper watercolour produced for Friends Temperance Union; L. of the Society of Friends, London, 85/L 3495.

1912
Marble statue by Walter Merrett, signed and dated, whole-length standing, holding oil lamp; Guildhall AG, London; see Bridgeman AL, GHA32092.
Merrett’s statue is close in design to the statuette by Joanna Hilary Bonham Carter (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, exh. 1862’).

Gold and silver Florence Nightingale Memorial Medal, by unidentified designer, three-quarter-length, profile to right, holding lamp, oval format; Australian War Memorial, Canberra, RELAWM31816.014. [31] See History of Medicine Coll., Duke U., Durham, NC, image 01909, for a ?design for this medal, with its ribbon and cross.
The figure on the medal is very close to A.G. Walker’s posthumous Nightingale statue, begun in 1912 (see below, ‘Paintings, drawings sculptures and prints, Posthumous portraits, unveiled 1915’).

Marble statue by Lady Feodora Georgina Maud Gleichen, whole-length standing, right arm raised and holding flambeau, figure set against block of Darley Dale stone inscr. ‘Fiat Lux’; retained on site of old Derbyshire Royal Infirmary; Derby City Council.
Vandalisation of hand and lamp (1987) and head (2006) has been repaired. Gleichen’s figure portrays Nightingale as she looked in photographs of the late 1850s/early 1860s, and the head is a portrait. Work may have begun in 1911. [32] Earlier, Gleichen had drawn Nightingale from life (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, 1908’), and she also designed the St Thomas’ H. Florence Nightingale Medal (see below, ‘Paintings, drawings sculptures and prints, Posthumous portraits, 1914’). The memorial was unveiled in June 1914. Photographed by W.W. Winter, Derby (date unknown); repr. Life and Work of Feodora Gleichen Sculptor, London, 1934, pl.13, where dated 1912.
Preparatory model, ‘Plaster sketch of Florence Nightingale for Memorial to be erected at Derby’; untraced. Exh. Spring Exh. of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, London, 1913 (43).

1913
Pentelic marble relief by Charles John Allen, whole-length to right, holding lamp, with two invalids; part of Florence Nightingale Memorial, Princes Road, Liverpool. [33] Funded by public subscription and unveiled 2 Oct. 1913. For view of memorial before vandalism, see History of Medicine Coll., Duke U., Durham, NC, image 01865.

exh. 1913
Bronze statuette by Gertrude Knoblauch; untraced. Exh. RA 1913 (1941); ref. RA 1913, exh. cat., p.59: ‘To be placed in a niche in the late Miss Nightingale’s house’.

1914
Gold Florence Nightingale Medal, designed by Lady Feodora Georgina Maud Gleichen, signed and dated 1914 on reverse, head-and-shoulders profile to right, wearing cap; copies St Thomas’ H., London; and Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM0783.1.
Bronze versions struck by John Pinches Ltd; BM (no further details). Awarded as prizes by the Nightingale Training School, St Thomas’ H., London. [34]

?c.1914–19
Gouache drawing on paper by (John) Byam Liston Shaw, titled Homage to the Red Cross: Inter Arma Caritas, Nightingale three-quarter-length standing at left, holding bowl in Crimean War group (further groups include crusaders and WWI Red Cross personnel); untraced; Menzies Auctioneers, Sydney, 8 Dec. 2011 (132).

1915
Framed plaque by unidentified artist, whole-length profile to left, holding lamp; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0562. Presented 1915 to ‘St Mary’s Marlborough Company of Nightingale Girls’.
Pose based on A.G. Walker’s Nightingale statue (see below, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Posthumous portraits, unveiled 1915’).

unveiled 1915
Bronze statue by Arthur G. Walker, 2.75m high, whole-length looking slightly down and to right, lamp in right hand, skirts gathered in left hand; Waterloo Place, London.
The granite pedestal is decorated with four bronze reliefs which also feature Nightingale: at front, a replica of the relief by J.H. Foley (prime version is on neighbouring Sidney Herbert memorial; see above, ‘Paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, Contemporary portraits not from life, unveiled 1867’); the three other reliefs show Nightingale at War Office, at Scutari and in old age with nurses. The memorial was cast by G. Fiorini and unveiled 24 Feb. 1915. Ref. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp.401–3, repr. p.402.
Full-size plaster model of above statue; presented 1933 by Walker to Nightingale Training School, St Thomas’ H., and placed at entrance to the nurses’ dining hall; destroyed in production of bronze statue of Nightingale by F. Mancini (see below, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Posthumous portraits, unveiled 1958’).
Pen and ink drawing by (John) Byam Liston Shaw of Nightingale statue in Waterloo Place, undated but 1915–19 (Shaw died 1919); Wellcome L., London, no.11969i.
The head of Walker’s statue was used as a poster for the London Transport series ‘Famous People’, publ. Oct. 1938; copy of poster NPG SB (Nightingale).
See also photograph of Walker in his studio, undated but c.1915, with model of Nightingale sculpture on plinth; Science & Society Picture L. 10597608.
See also LMA, St Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/II/005-007, for photographs of work in progress on the statue.

exh. 1915
Sculpture by William Goscombe John (no further details); untraced.
Copy by William Clarke after John; untraced; formerly coll. Bruce-Vaughn. Exh. ‘Exh. in Aid of the Funds of the Welsh Military Hospital, Netley’, New Galleries, Cardiff, 1915 (43).

1916
Marble relief by Arthur G. Walker, half-length profile to right, offering drink to patient; Memorial to Florence Nightingale, crypt, St Paul’s Cathedral, London. [35] Photograph LMA, St Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/II/025.
Plaster copy, cast 1917 and dedicated 25 Apr. 1917, St Thomas’ H. Chapel (south aisle), London; Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, S2001.656. Repr. Cavanagh 2007, p.64; photograph LMA, St Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/II/028.

publ. 1923
Pen and ink drawing by Harry Furniss, three-quarter-length standing, full-face, hands clasped holding a letter; untraced. Repr. Furniss 1923, facing p.132. [36]
The image (not caricatured) is directly taken from the photograph by Henry Hering (see below, ‘Photographs, later 1856–early 1857, pose (a)’).

1925
Silver badge designed by Dame Alicia Frances Jane Lloyd Still, inscr. ‘Schola Sancti Thomae’, head in relief, profile to right, at centre of eight-pointed cross; copies Nightingale Fellowship. Exh. Central Hall, St Thomas’ H., London.
The badge of the Nightingale Training School, St Thomas’ H., first awarded in 1925.

1932
Medal designed by Percy Metcalfe, obverse: profile bust to right (not a likeness though wearing Nightingale-style headdress), lamp held in both hands; struck by Royal Mint for newly instituted Voluntary Medical Service, 1932; copies colls V&A, A.53-1934 (white metal); Royal Mint M., Llantrisant (electrotype); and IWM, OMD 2193 (silver).

c.1932
Bronze statuette by Arthur G. Walker, 455mm high, a reduced copy of the Nightingale statue in Waterloo Place (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Posthumous portraits, unveiled 1915’); copies colls Government Art Coll., 16632; and Sotheby’s, 14 July 2010 (102).
Commissioned by Royal College of Nursing (RCN), London, c.1932 (see photograph of statuette in carved niche in RCN L.; RCN Archives, P/1/21/1). Walker left the copyright to the RCN for the production of further statuettes for nursing associations around the world. See details of commission, orders and pricing of statuettes (£26) in Correspondence 1932–50, RCN Archives, RCN14/11/3.

publ. 1933
Oil on canvas by Herbert Gustave Schmalz, signed lower left, three-quarter-length standing on a terrace, full-face, holding bouquet of flowers and oil lamp, views of Bosphorus and Constantinople in background; untraced; offered to NPG 1954, declined. Photographs NPG SB (Nightingale); and Wellcome L., London, no.13954i.
Repr. as colour mezzotint, publ. Henry Graves & Co., 1933; BM, 2010,7081.6574 (signed ‘Herbert Carmichael’ and inscr. ‘“The Lady with the Lamp” (Florence Nightingale at Scutari A.D. 1856)’ [37]); and Florence Nightingale M, London, FNM 0461.

unveiled 1937
Cast stone sculpture by David Edstrom, whole-length standing, in billowing skirt, holding lamp with both hands; El Parque de Mexico, Los Angeles.
Another version unveiled 1939; Laguna Honda H., San Francisco.

exh. 1951
Mural by Charles Mozley, Nightingale in Hospital wards at Scutari; NA, WORK 25/263. Painted for Festival of Britain, South Bank Exh., London, 1951, Health Pavilion.

Unidentified sculptor, ‘cast of Florence Nightingale’s head’ (no further details); NA, WORK 25/214. Exh. Festival of Britain, South Bank Exh., London, 1951.

1954
Plaster statuette by Frederick Mancini, signed and dated 1954, whole-length standing, carrying Turkish lantern, left hand on heart; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0348 (presented 1955).
The statuette does not relate to Mancini’s copy of A.G. Walker’s statue, which was unveiled in 1958 (see below).

unveiled 1958
Bronze statue by Frederick Mancini, 1.95m high, after Arthur G. Walker (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Posthumous portraits, unveiled 1915’), whole-length looking slightly down and to right, lamp in right hand, skirts gathered in left hand; untraced. Photographs LMA, St Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/II/019-024.
In 1956 St Thomas’ H. commissioned Mancini to produce a reduced bronze copy of Walker’s statue. Mancini used Walker’s plaster (destroying it in the process), and his copy was cast by John Galizia & Son Ltd. The head of Mancini’s Nightingale was disproportionately small, with gaunt features and a different headdress; see Cavanagh 2007, p.53. Mancini’s statue was put up in St. Thomas’ H. grounds in 1958, from where it disappeared in 1970.

c.1959
Design for window by unidentified artist, whole-length standing, full-face, holding lantern; untraced.
Stained-glass window; formerly Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, moved to St Peter’s Church, Derby, 2010.

1975
Design by Harry Eccleston, two figures on reverse of Bank of England £10 note, main figure half-length to left and smaller figure whole-length to left, with lamp; untraced; for printed banknote see BM, 1980,0941.2.
Legal tender 20 Feb. 1975–20 May 1994. The main figure is a blend of two famous 1850s photographs: Kilburn (see below, ‘Photographs, c.1856, pose (a)’) and Henry Hering (see below, ‘Photographs, later 1856–early 1857, pose (a)’). The smaller figure is based on A.G. Walker’s posthumous figure (see above, ‘Paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, Posthumous portraits, unveiled 1915’).

unveiled 1978
Bronze resin statue by Victor Tozer after Frederick Mancini, whole-length looking slightly down and to right, lamp in right hand, skirts gathered in left hand; untraced.
In 1975 St. Thomas’ H. commissioned Tozer to produce a replica of the missing Mancini bronze (see above, ‘Paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, Posthumous portraits, unveiled 1958’) – the task facilitated by discovery of Mancini’s 1950s clay model (this clay now untraced). Tozer’s replica was unveiled Mar. 1978. A fibreglass copy made by Rupert Harris in 1998 is presently displayed in St Thomas’ H. Central Hall. [38]
For refs to Mancini and Tozer copies after Walker, see Cavanagh 2007, pp.52–4.

2011
Brass seal cut by Li Lanqing, small bust of Nightingale at the top, signed and dated; BM, 2012,3045.10. Exh. Contemporary Chinese Seals by Li Lanqing, BM, 2012–13 (no further details).

Undated posthumous portraits
Cast aluminium sculpture by Harold W. Rambusch, whole-length, full-face with student nurses, undated but twentieth century; Clarkson H., Omaha, NE (on external wall).

Photographsback to top

Nightingale was dismissive of photography. But she exaggerated when claiming in 1862: ‘I … never sate for a photograph in my life, except by command of the Queen’. [39]

1850
Carte-de-visite by Julius Cornelius Schaarwächter, Berlin, half-length, three-quarters to right, gaze lowered, reading, wearing striped shawl; Claydon House Trust. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.468, no.9 (‘enlarged from a daguerreotype’, dated 1852); see Wellcome Images L0010196. [40]
A little-known, very important pre-Crimean War image, apparently unpublished in Nightingale’s lifetime.

c.1850
Photograph by unidentified photographer, whole-length standing, full-face; untraced.
Stephen (1936) suggests Parthenope Nightingale based her drawing of Nightingale with owl (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, publ. 1855’) on this photograph, of which she believed there was a single copy at the Nightingale School, St Thomas’ H., London.

c.1855
Photograph by unidentified photographer, ‘Miss Florence Nightingale and Sir Robert Rawlinson KCB members of the Sanitary Committee in the Crimea’; LMA, St. Thomas’ H. Group, Portraits and Photographs, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/I/022.
A rare Crimean photograph.

publ. 1856
Photographs by William Edward Kilburn, whole-length seated to left in armchair, looking thin in a dark moiré dress with lace collar and ribbon choker, short hair under cap with trailing ribbons, hands on lap holding papers, two known poses:
(a) head drooping, lowered gaze; albumen print Royal Coll. RCIN 2911352 [41]; copies colls Claydon House Trust, N13/48 (oval half-length detail); Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0204 and 0674 (Kilburn); NAM, NAM.1963-12-227 (dated c.1860); and Wellcome L., London, no.13274i. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.468, no.10, where dated 1854; and Stephen 1936, p.10 (‘probably 1855’); repr. Tooley 1910, facing p.272 (‘after her return from the Crimea’); and Bostridge 2008, pl.21, captioned ‘c.1853–4, while she was Lady Superintendent of the Upper Harley Street Establishment for Gentlewomen during Illness’.
Carte-de-visite printed by Henry Lenthall, Kilburn’s successor from July 1856; NPG x16136.
Stipple engr. by D.J. Pound after Kilburn (half-length detail), publ. 1856; Wellcome L., London, no.7451i. Ref. Burgess 1973, p.263, no.2151.12, where described as after photograph by ‘Keene, Derby’.
Lithograph by Rudolf Blind after Kilburn (head-and-shoulders, reversed), publ. Maclure & MacDonald, 1883; Wellcome L., London, no.7452i. Ref. Burgess 1973, p.263, no.2151.13.
(b) head raised, full-face; carte-de-visite,NPG Ax27595; see MEPL, London, 10677421.
Both poses reg. for copyright by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company 1897 Apr. 27: National Archives (COPY 3/175.79).

c.1856
Photographs by William Edward Kilburn, traditionally associated with a commission from Queen Victoria to mark Nightingale’s return from Crimea, wearing dress with lace trim and velvet ribbon ‘squares’ on shoulders and sleeves, and lace collar, choker and lace cap similar to those worn in another sitting to Kilburn (see above, ‘Photographs, publ. 1856’), hair still short but a little longer, carved sideboard at left, three known poses:
(a) whole-length standing, three-quarters to left, holding paper; reg. for copyright by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company, 1897 Apr. 27: National Archives (COPY 3/175.79); [42] copies colls Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0494; Watts G., Compton, COMWG2008.163.491 (attr. to Mayall); VAM, 535-1956; and Wellcome L., London, no.13279i. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.468, no.14, where dated 1856; repr. Werckmeister 1898–1901, vol.5, pl.508; and Harriet Martineau, ‘Death of Miss Nightingale’, Daily News, 15 Aug. 1910, captioned ‘Florence Nightingale as she appeared in middle life’.
Cartes-de-visite; NPG x16135 (half-length, printed by Henry Lenthall), NPG x16137, and NPG x16138 (publ. by Ashford Brothers & Co., London). See also carte-de-visite by Ashford Brothers & Co. titled ‘Upwards of five hundred photographic portraits of the most celebrated personages of the age’, NPG x139661 (dated mid 1860s, half-length in oval).
Wood-engr. after Kilburn, head-and-shoulders in oval; Royal College of Nursing, Archives LS/147.
(b) head-and-shoulders, three-quarters to left, a cap ribbon dangling at Nightingale’s right; reg. for copyright by Henry Lenthall, 1866 July 11, National Archives (COPY 3/107.233).
Cartes-de-visite printed by Lenthall after Kilburn; NPG x46634 and NPG Ax28403.
Wood-engr. by unidentified artist after Kilburn, publ. Australian Town and Country Journal, 1875 (no further details); see Wellcome Images M0015906.
(c) half-length standing, turned slightly more to left, very faintly smiling, hands clasped and resting on sideboard; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0164.1-4; see Wellcome Images V0026901.
Wood-engr. after Kilburn, head-and-shoulders, reversed, 1867; see MEPL, London, 10443292.

later 1856–early 1857
Photographs by Henry Hering, London, wearing dress with stripes of dark trim on bodice, sleeves and skirt and rows of buttons on shoulders, and a lace cap covering the ears, hair a little longer than in the Kilburn photographs (see above, ‘Photographs, c.1856’), standing whole-length against panelled backdrop, curtain looped at right, two known poses:
(a) full-face and holding paper; cartes-de-visite, printed by Hering, mounts printed on reverse: ‘H. Hering / Photographer to the Queen / 137 Regent Street’, [43] NPG Ax29670 and NPG Ax29671; carte-de-visite, publ. Alfred William Bennett, London, inscr. in pencil on reverse: ‘Nightingale described by herself as Medea after killing her children / Info. Mrs. Nash 1938’, NPG x16139; carte-de-visite, half-length detail, publ. Frederic Jones, London, NPG x16140; carte-de-visite (no photographer details), NPG x16182; copies colls Claydon House Trust, N13/48; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0453 and 0208; Wellcome L., London, no.13273i; and NAM, 1980-07-137-1 (here associated with photograph commission by Queen Victoria). Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.469, no.16 (dated c.1858), where attributed to ‘Goodman’. [44]
Half-plate glass copy negative by Elliott & Fry after Hering, NPG x82368 (bust detail with retouchings). Repr. Strachey 1918, facing p. 115.
Photogravure by Emery Walker after Hering. Repr. Cook 1914, vol.1, facing p.394 (‘about 1858’).
Wood-engr. by T. Cole after Hering, 1872; copy Wellcome L., London, no.7454i (three-quarter-length). Ref. Burgess 1973, p.263, no.2151.15; repr. Century Magazine, 1882, p.2.
See NPG 1748 for Sir George Scharf’s 1857 drawing of detail of this photograph. It also provided a basis for the head in NPG 4305.
Probably the most famous Nightingale photograph.
(b) profile to right, no cap, revealing short and skimpy hair, hands clasped (no paper). The curtain looped differently from (a) and showing more Greek key border; three photographic prints Claydon House Trust, N13/48 (note on back of one print: ‘daguerreotype of Florence Nightingale on her return from Scutari’; another print displayed Claydon, captioned: ‘in the Drawing room at Embley’). Exh. Nightingale Centenary Exh., RCS England, 1954; Christie’s, 22 Nov. 2002 (30, ill.); repr. Huxley 1975, p.139.
These photographs are sometimes dated 1858, but in view of Nightingale’s still short hair they must be just months away from the c.1856 Kilburn sittings above. In the third week of August 1857 Nightingale fell seriously ill – ‘the collapse of Aug. 1857 was the beginning of Miss Nightingale’s retirement as an invalid’ (Woodham Smith 1950, p.302) – and there were no subsequent visits to photography studios.

For a range of twentieth-century postage stamps featuring portraits of Nightingale, many based on photographs by Kilburn and Hering, see The Collected Works of Florence Nightingale website.

1858
Photograph by William Slater and/or William Frost, Romsey, whole-length seated to right, head in hand (no cap), reading, in garden at Embley Park, May 1858; photograph album, Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 1088. Repr. Bostridge 2008, pl.37. [45]

‘Small photograph of Florence Nightingale seated, taken by Keene [presumably Richard Keene (1825–94), Derbys. photographer], 1858’; untraced. Exh. Nightingale Centenary Exh., RCS England, 1954 (no further details).

1886
Photographs by unidentified photographer, wearing white headscarf and white shawl, in group of Nightingale nurses at Claydon (south front), four known poses:
(a) almost whole-length, hands clasped, head slightly to left, seated at centre of group of probationers in white caps and aprons, outside the house; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0376. Repr. Daily Mirror, 15 Aug. 1910, front page (see MEPL, London, 10643817); ILN, 20 Aug. 1910, p.267; and Dossey 1999, p.351.
Detail rephotographed by Emery Walker; NPG, neg. box no. 502/1; see Getty Images 173461238.
Wood-engr. after this photograph, half-length detail; repr. Wintle c.1911, p.126.
(b) same group as (a), full-face; see Wellcome Images L0010473.
(c) head-and-shoulders at window, here watching from indoors, probationers in travelling clothes; Florence Nightingale M., London (no further details); see Bridgeman AL, FNM325778. Repr. Bostridge 2008, pl.54, where dated 1880s.
(d) same group as (c), Nightingale half-length standing at window; reproduction in facsimile Verney family photograph album, NT, Claydon, Bucks.
For further copies of these photographs, and glass plate negatives, see LMA, St. Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/I/009-010. [46]

1889
Photographs by Samuel Glendenning Payne & Son, Aylesbury, mounts printed on reverse ‘Mr. and Mrs. S.G. Payne & Son’, [47] wearing white headscarf trimmed with lace, and shawl, seated on chair, Claydon gardens, rustic bench at left, three known poses:
(a) whole-length seated, three-quarters to left, facing Sir Harry Verney, who extends a folded paper; Claydon House Trust, photos 10/5/78; see Wellcome Images L0010474; and Bridgeman AL, XJF349773. Repr. Woodham-Smith 1950, facing p.582.
Detail rephotographed by Emery Walker, NPG, neg. box nos 2199/8 and 2199/9.
(b) whole-length turned to right, Parthenope, Lady Verney seated at left very frail, Sir Harry standing at right; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 321950. Repr. Huxley 1975, p.212.
(c) whole-length seated, facing and smiling, surrounded by young Verney relations; Claydon House Trust. Repr. Bostridge 2008, pl.50.
For further copies of these photographs, and glass plate negatives, see LMA, St. Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/I/011.

c.1890
Photograph by George Lloyd Verney, profile, wearing veil; untraced. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.469, no.20; and Stephen 1936, where dated c.1890.

1891
Photographs by Samuel Glendenning Payne & Son, Aylesbury, wearing lacy scarf, on couch in Blue Room, Claydon, Oct. 1891, four known poses: [48]
(a) three-quarter-length, extended to left on couch, looking almost ahead, letters on lap; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0496; see Bridgeman AL, LLE816700; and Wellcome Images L0010475. Bromide postcard print, NPG x132535.
(b) very close to (a), looking to right; copies colls Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0451; and Wellcome L., London, no.13283i. Repr. Sphere, 20 Aug. 1910, cover (obits. image); copy NPG SB (Nightingale), inscr. by Charles Kingsley Adams, June 1938: ‘I saw an actual photograph similar to this at Claydon, stamped “S. Glen. Payne & Son, Aylesbury, October 1891”.’
(c) close to (a), looking directly at camera, fire screen at left; Wellcome L., London, no.13284i. Ref. Cook 1914, vol.2, p.469, no.21 (dated 1891). [49]
(d) three-quarter-length, sitting on couch and looking to right; Wellcome L., London, no.13282i. [50] See also a lantern slide produced for the Friends Temperance Union; L. of the Society of Friends, London, 85/L 3497.
The sitting was organised by Sir Harry Verney; and some weeks later Payne registered three photographs for copyright (one lying, two sitting on couch, no further details) 1891 Nov. 2: National Archives (COPY 3/168.287). But when in 1895 Payne wrote to Nightingale requesting permission to publish and sell the photographs, he was flatly refused (Woodham-Smith 1950, p.587).
For further copies of these photographs, and glass plate negatives, see LMA, St. Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/I/012.

1906
Photographs by Elizabeth Feilde Bosanquet, [51] in bed at 10 South Street, London, two known poses:
(a) body to right, head turned to window at left, hands resting on eiderdown; the watercolour by A.E. Chalon (see above, ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, 1824’) hanging on wall half visible at left; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0673.
Photogravure (central detail) by Emery Walker after Bosanquet, NPG, neg. box no.2199/7. Repr. Cook 1914, vol.2, facing p.306, where captioned ‘from a photograph by Miss Bosanquet, 1906’.
(b) body to right, looking to right and smiling, right hand on table, portrait by Chalon almost fully visible; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0449.

Two photographs by Bosanquet were registered for copyright 1907 Mar. 8: National Archives (COPY 3/194.56). Ref. to ‘two photographs of Miss Nightingale in her room’ Cook 1914, vol.2, p.469, no.22, where dated 1906.

For further Bosanquet photographs (poses/dates unclear), see LMA, St. Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/I/016(i) 17–19.

?c.1910
Photograph by unidentified photographer, in bedroom at 10 South Street; LMA, St. Thomas’ H. Group, Photographs, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/I/020.
Perhaps related to a photograph of Nightingale taken by Lizzie Caswall Smith, sold at Dreweatts, Newbury, 19 Nov. 2008, inscr. on reverse: ‘Florence Nightingale taken just before she died, House nr Park Lane (London). The only photograph I ever took out of studio – I shall never forget the experience.’ [52]

Undated photograph
Photograph by Elizabeth Feilde Bosanquet, lying to right in bed, head (blurry) to left, right hand raised, a person half-hidden by vase of flowers at left; Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM 0677 and 0070. Though similar to 1906 sitting (see above, ‘Photographs, 1906’) the date is different: see pictures on bookshelf and dark lampshades.


Rejected photograph
Ambrotype by unidentified photographer of a middle-aged woman, head-and-shoulders profile to left, ?1850s–60s; priv. coll.; see Bridgeman AL, XND70104, here called Florence Nightingale.


Footnotes
1) Not including Staffordshire figurines.
2) See Stephen 1936, p.2.
3) From December 1854 E.A. Goodall drew for the ILN in Crimea; Joseph Archer Crowe also sent back drawings, as did Constantin Guys, though Guys’s drawings were mainly of the French army. For a reference to the three artists, see ILN, 24 Feb. 1855, p.174, and 8 July 1855, p.106. For information on Goodall’s Crimean war drawings, see Lalumia 1984, pp.62–3.
4) For a description of Nightingale’s dress in Scutari, December 1854, see letter from M. Stanley to unknown recipient, 21 Dec. 1854, quoted in Cook 1914, vol.1, p.234: ‘her black merino, trimmed with black velvet, clean linen collar and cuffs, apron, white cap with a black handkerchief tied over it’.
5) The owl Nightingale adopted in Greece in June 1850 died 19 Oct. 1854: the drawing may be imaginary, drawn anytime between mid-1850 and publication of the related print by Colnaghi in 1855. See also ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits not from life, 1855’, for Parthenope’s booklet ‘Life and Death of Athena, an Owlet from the Parthenon’.
6) Cook 1914, vol.2, p.469.
7) The sketch is inscribed with lists of names at the right: ‘Military Men / Gnl Storks / Col Sillery / Adj Finnerty / Mr Bracebridge / Medical Officers / Dr Linton / Dr Cumming / Dr Cruikshank / Dr Tredaway / Dr Lawson’.
8) Nightingale’s hair was short during most of the period 1854–6 due to heat and illness and to prevent head lice. It was short and ‘combed over her forehead like a child’s’ in Dec. 1855, and in Jan. 1856 her appearance was described thus: ‘[Flo] has such a nice little child’s face like what she had at three, without a bit of curl or braid or anything, but the nice little hairs growing gradually and a little white muslin cap, a grey cloth gown sent by Mrs Herbert’ (see Bostridge 2008, p.290; and O’Malley 1931, p.356). Her hair was still short when she was presented to Queen Victoria at Balmoral in Sep. 1856.
9) Simpson was in Crimea from autumn 1854 to autumn 1855 and produced drawings for Colnaghi’s ‘Authentic Series’ of prints.
10) Soyer described the event as occurring in Apr. 1855 (no further details).
11) ‘The Nightingale’s Song to the Sick and Wounded’, by C.A. Somerset and W. West, 1857.
12) Bostridge confuses S. Bellin with T.O. Barlow: Barlow engraved Barrett’s first Crimean picture, Queen Victoria’s First Visit to Her Wounded Soldiers, and this was also published by Agnew’s in 1858.
13) In a letter to Thomas Agnew, 3 July 1857, Barrett writes: ‘I have been working hard upon the reduced copy all the week’ (photocopy, NPG RP 4305).
14) In 1851 Nightingale studied at the Institution of Deaconesses in Kaiserswerth (Kaiserswerther Diakonie).
15) The Royal Buckinghamshire H. (then Buckinghamshire County Infirmary) opened in 1862; it was designed along Nightingale’s nursing guidelines.
16) See 1942 correspondence, NPG, RP 1748, which suggests Denoyer-Geppert, prompted by the American Nurses’ Association, was planning to produce models of Steell’s bust to supply US hospitals and nurse training schools. Denoyer-Geppert registered copyright for a bust of Nightingale, 4 Oct. 1945: see Library of Congress, Catalog of Copyright Entries… Part 4: Works of Art for the Year 1945, etc., Washington, 1946, p.282.
17) Letter from Nightingale to Sir H. Verney, 26 Aug.1864, quoted in McDonald 2001, p.567.
18) A piece of fine net edged with handmade lace was her usual headdress in middle and later life.
19) Letter from E.T. Cook to C.J. Holmes, 28 May 1913, NPG RP 1578.
20) ‘Letter from Florence Nightingale to Sir William Blake Richmond and transcript’ Center for the History of Medicine: OnView.
21) The handmade booklet was sent as a gift to Nightingale at Scutari, summer 1855, and is presently displayed at Claydon. It was lithographed in a limited edition for private circulation c.1855: a copy at Florence Nightingale M., London, 0768.
22) Barker may have travelled to Crimea and witnessed scenes of war (see Stearn 2004a). But his picture of Nightingale is fanciful, as is his view of her nursing on the field.
23) The pedestal motif, pose and costume derive from the famous print by Francis Holl after Parthenope Nightingale; see ‘Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, publ. 1855’.
24)‘The Soldier’s Friend’, lyrics by C.F. Bathurst and music by E.L. Hime, London, n.d.
25) Such a sash, ‘a broad strip of brown Holland, embroidered in red worsted with the words “Scutari Hospital”’, was given to the nurses as they left England for Crimea, Dec. 1854, but not worn by Nightingale herself; see [Taylor] 1856, vol.2, p.12.
26) Scenes include a reference to the ‘Congress of Paris’: this was the peace treaty signed 30 Mar. 1856. Booklet includes advertisement for ‘Youth’s Keepsake 1857’.
27) Wells contrasted Nightingale’s classical features with those of ‘Bridget McBruiser’, an imaginary working-class woman; repr. Bostridge 2008, p.265.
28) ‘The east vestibule of the Woman’s Building is decorated by two large mural paintings. The one by Mrs. Swynnerton represents three different phases of nursing, the care of the young, the sick, and the aged. The decoration is in the form of a triptych. The central panel represents the Crimean Hospital at Scutari, with the sick and wounded soldiers lying on their pallet beds, their faces turned toward the single gracious figure of Florence Nightingale standing in their midst, a figure full of dignity and pathos.’
29) According to Barbara Stephen, a defining characteristic was that Nightingale’s hair was ‘always worn smooth, without side curls’ (Stephen 1936, p.1).
30) For Nightingale’s hairstyle (no side curls or ringlets) see Stephen 1936, p.1.
31) The award was instituted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1912. Sets of medals, now silver gilt, continue to be distributed by the ICRC to nominated nurses worldwide, every two years.
32) The Duke of Devonshire (president of the governors of the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary) directed the memorial scheme and recommended Gleichen: see article in Derby Mercury, 19 June 1914 (no further details).
33) The Carrara marble figure sculpted by Francis William Sargant on the 1913 Nightingale memorial in the cloisters of S. Croce, Florence is definitely not a portrait, as the features do not correspond. See photograph, Florence Nightingale M., London, FNM0254.
34) ‘Feodora Gleichen also made the gold Florence Nightingale medal for St. Thomas’ Hospital, of which certain of the sisters wear replicas in bronze’ (Life and Work of Feodora Gleichen Sculptor, London, 1934, p.7).
35) The Guards’ Crimea Memorial and the Sidney Herbert and Nightingale memorials on this site form a trio of monuments associated with the Crimean War. Walker received the Nightingale commission in early 1912.
36) Furniss admired Nightingale when growing up: ‘As soon as I was of an age to understand anything … the Victorian woman who fascinated me most was Florence Nightingale. … A coloured print of her moving among the poor wounded soldiers in hospital at Scutari hung on my nursery wall’ (Furniss 1932, p.132).
37) H.G. Schmalz (1856–1935) changed his name to Herbert Carmichael in 1918.
38) Email from I. Gray, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity, 14 Feb. 2014.
39) Letter from Nightingale to Mrs Deverill, 4 July 1862; Phillips, 20 Sep. 1984 (515).
40) Bostridge (2008, p.140) dates this photograph to a stay in Berlin, July 1850, just before Nightingale’s first visit to the Institution of Deaconesses, Kaiserswerth, the following month. Stephen (1936) dates it to ‘about 1852’.
41) RCIN 2911352 is part of an album ‘collected and arranged by His Royal Highness The Prince Consort, 1861–2’, p.8. It is also the only photograph of Nightingale in the Royal Coll.
42) Kilburn was succeeded by Henry Lenthall, and Lenthall’s stock in turn was later acquired by the London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
43) Hering’s studio was at 137 Regent St from July 1856 until 1873. Nightingale returned to England in Aug. 1856 and she moved to London in Nov.
44) E.T. Cook was apparently first responsible for attributing the photographs to ‘Goodman’. The attribution went unchallenged for a century, but see email from B. Payne to C. Blackett-Ord, 3 June 2014: ‘After over a decade of researching Derbyshire photographers in some considerable detail, I have never come across any photographer named Goodman working in Derby. While it is possible that he was an itinerant that passed through, I think it is unlikely that such an itinerant is likely to (a) have been chosen by Florence Nightingale to have her portrait taken, or (b) be referred to as ‘Goodman of Derby’. Nor have I come across a publisher named Goodman from Derby in the 1850s or 1860s. I have checked the census records and trade directories for the period, and can’t find anything there either.’
45) According to Bostridge Nightingale’s only visit to Embley in 1858 was in May (pers. comm., 24 Feb. 2014).
46) See Cook, 1914, vol.2, p.268, for a description of the nurses’ annual ‘field-day’ at Claydon.
47) Samuel’s wife Maria was also a photographer.
48) For Nightingale’s irritation at public interest in Payne’s photographs, see Bostridge 2008 p.515.
49) ‘Her head, in girlhood and early womanhood, had been remarked as small. Possibly it had grown somewhat … at any rate her head in later years was certainly large. An Army Surgeon who visited Miss Nightingale frequently in the ’eighties and ’nineties tells me that he was always struck by the massiveness of the head, comparable, he thought, to Mr Gladstone’s’ (Cook 1914, vol.2, p.307).
50) The Wellcome L. images from this sitting are credited to ‘Millburn’: Michael Charles Millburn took over Payne’s studio in 1915.
51) Bosanquet was Nightingale’s secretary from 1904 to 1910, with considerable influence, as Nightingale could no longer read nor write from about 1902.
52) Caswall Smith photographed the watercolour by Chalon (see ‘Paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints, Contemporary portraits from life, 1824’) at South Street; see LMA, St. Thomas’ H. Group, Nightingale Coll. of Prints and Photographs, H01/ST/NCPH/B/I/035.

Carol Blackett-Ord