The Life of Florence Nightingale, vol. 2 of 2

by Sir Edward Tyas Cook

APPENDIX C

List of Portraits, Photographs, etc., of Florence Nightingale

Authentic likenesses of Miss Nightingale, except in her earlier years, are very few. When she had become famous, she shrank from publicity. She was very seldom photographed, and as a general rule she refused to sit for her portrait. The demand for portraits of her was great, and the demand created a supply. This list includes, however, with one probable exception (No. 5), only such portraits as are authentic.

(1) 1820–1. Water-colour drawing of F. N. as a baby on the knee of her Italian nurse Balia. At Lea Hurst.

(2) 1828. Water-colour drawing of Mrs. Nightingale with her two daughters (Florence is on her mother's knee). In the possession of Mrs. Leonard Cunliffe, daughter of Sir Douglas Galton. Reproduced as [frontispiece] to Vol. I.

(3) 1828. Water-colour drawing of Mrs. Nightingale with her two daughters, by A. E. Chalon. At Claydon. (Similar to, but not identical in costume with, the foregoing.)

(4) 1839. Water-colour portrait, by William White, of Florence Nightingale (sitting) and her sister, Parthenope, standing. In possession of Mrs. Coltman.

(5) circ. 1840. Small oil portrait by Augustus L. Egg, R.A. In the National Portrait Gallery (No. 1578). This picture was bought from Mrs. Salis Schwabe (an admirer of Miss Nightingale with whom she had a slight acquaintance) by Mr. William Rathbone, with a view to its presentation to the nation; and was given to the Portrait Gallery in 1910 by Mrs. Rathbone in accordance with her husband's desire. In view of these facts, and as the attribution to Egg agrees with dates, the Trustees accepted the portrait as authentic. Miss Nightingale's family, however, doubt whether it is so. There is no general resemblance. The face is plump, and all other portraits at that age show a thin face. The narrow ridge of F. N.'s nose is not given. The chestnut colour of the hair in the portrait is not true to life. The eyebrows are unlike. The expression is most uncharacteristic. All other early portraits, even quite slight ones, are remarkable for a peculiarly contained, self-possessed expression. The dress and ornaments are out of character; and Miss Nightingale never wore ear-rings. If the portrait be indeed of her, and by a practised artist, it can hardly have been made from the life.

(6) c. 1845. Pencil sketch by Miss Hilary Bonham Carter. In the possession of Miss B. A. Clough. Reproduced in Vol. I. p. [38]38.

(7) c. 1850. Full-length, standing beside a pedestal, on which stands an owl. Engraved by F. Holl from a pencil drawing by Parthenope Nightingale (Lady Verney). Reproduced in the Illustrated Times, February 2, 1856, and as frontispiece to the Victoria Miniature Almanack and Fashionable Remembrancer for 1857.

(8) c. 1852. Large pencil head, copied about 1880 by J. R. Parsons from a drawing by Lady Eastlake. The original was in bad condition and is believed to have been destroyed. The copy is at Lea Hurst.

(9) c. 1852. Photograph, three-quarter face, almost profile; three-quarter length, seated, reading. A striped scarf. Taken in Germany. At Claydon.

(10) 1854. Photograph, seated, looking down, by Kilburn, then 222 Regent Street. Taken during Miss Nightingale's time at Harley Street. There were two positions as mentioned in the letter of Mrs. Sutherland noticed under No. 15, “looking down in one, in the other the eyes raised.” These are the photographs which some of Miss Nightingale's family considered the best.

(11) 1854. A sketch; seated, reading a book; white flower in her hair; red cross on her neck. “H. M. B. C. del.” [Miss Hilary Bonham Carter, whose initials, however, were J. H. B. C.] “Published November 28, 1854, by P. and D. Colnaghi: Colnaghi's Authentic Series.” There was also published an uncoloured print of the same drawing, which in turn was adapted in various forms—as in a print published by W. Bemrose & Sons, lettered “Miss Florence Nightingale, the Good Samaritan of Derbyshire, reading the accounts of the dreadful sufferings of our brave wounded soldiers,” etc., etc.

(12) 1855. Miss Florence Nightingale and Mr. Bracebridge on Cathcart's Hill, May 8, 1855. Lithographed by Day, and published. This drawing was made up by Lady Verney and Lady Anne Blunt from a slight sketch by Mrs. Bracebridge. Many other prints, still further removed from life, were published—such as: “Florence Nightingale in the Military Hospital at Scutari” (a coloured print published, March 16, 1855, by Read & Co., 10 Johnson's Court, Fleet Street); “Miss Florence Nightingale, the Soldiers' Friend” (drawn by Elston, published May 1, 1856, by Ellis, 51 Jewin Street, City); and “The Great Military Hospital at Scutari” (published, with a sentimental legend, Feb. 24, 1855, by Stannard & Dixon, 7 Poland Street).

(13) 1856. Oil picture of Miss Nightingale receiving the wounded at Scutari, by Jerry Barratt. Engraved as “Florence Nightingale at Scutari, A Mission of Mercy,” by S. Bellin. The picture is in the possession of Sir Percy Bates, Bart.

(14) 1856. Photograph, three-quarter length, three-quarter face, standing, by The London Stereoscopic Co. This photograph was taken at the request of Queen Victoria, and has often been reproduced.

(15) 1856. Plaster statuette; standing, with a lamp in the right hand, by Miss Hilary Bonham Carter. At Lea Hurst. There are several replicas, or versions with some differences. One is at St. Thomas's Hospital; another, in Mr. Henry Bonham Carter's possession; another, at Claydon. A second version was, by advice of Mr. Woolner, R.A., made less full in the skirt. A small version, on a reduced scale (about 15 in. high), was also made, and is very widespread. There is a letter to Miss Nightingale from Mrs. Sutherland (June 1866), in which she says: “There are photographs of the statuette which (though it seems odd to say so) are more characteristic than the actual portraits, none of which but the ‘owl’ one [No. 7], which you deprecate, give a real idea of what you were ten years ago.”

(16) c. 1858. Photograph, full-length, full face, standing, by Goodman. This was generally considered by Miss Nightingale's family to be the best likeness; reproduced in Vol. I. p. [394].

(17) 1862. Marble bust, by Sir John Steell. This bust, presented to Miss Nightingale by the non-commissioned officers and men of the British Army, has been placed in the Museum of the Royal United Service Institution in accordance with the provisions of her will. There is a replica at Lea Hurst.

(18) 1864. Commencement of a head by G. F. Watts, R.A. Miss Nightingale was persuaded by Sir Harry Verney to receive Mr. Watts on one or two occasions, who made a beginning only of a portrait. It is very slight, and Mr. Watts regarded it as so far a failure. He hoped to be able to resume the work, but abandoned the idea when Sir William Richmond made a portrait. The unfinished canvas is at Limnerslease.

(19) 1887. Oil portrait, half-length, by Sir W. B. Richmond, R.A. At Claydon. Reproduced as frontispiece to this volume. 1887 was the year of the final sittings; the portrait was begun at an earlier date.

(20) c. 1890. Photograph, side face, in veil, by Colonel G. Lloyd Verney.

(21) 1891. Photograph, three-quarter length, seated on a couch, full face, by S. G. Payne & Son, Aylesbury. Taken at Claydon.

(22) 1906. Two photographs of Miss Nightingale in her room; by Miss E. F. Bosanquet. One of these, enlarged, is reproduced above, p. [306].

(23) 1907. Two water-colour drawings (and a replica), by Miss F. Amicia de Biden Footner. One is reproduced above, p. [404]. These drawings of Miss Nightingale in her room at South Street are in possession of various members of the family.

(24) 1908. Chalk-drawing, by Countess Feodora Gleichen. At Windsor, made (from life) by command of King Edward VII. for a collection of portraits of members of the Order of Merit.