Edwin Lankester
- Artist: Antoine Claudet
- Date: 1860
- Medium: albumen carte-de-visite
- Dimensions: 3 3/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. (85 mm x 54 mm) image size
- Portrays: Edwin Lankester
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is a compact carte‑de‑visite of Edwin Lankester, taken by Antoine Claudet in the early 1860s. The image sits on a thin albumen paper card only about 85 mm wide and 54 mm high—so close up you’ll see the subtle grain of the paper and the sharpness of Claudet’s early photographic technique.
In front of you is Lankester, his face framed by a simple white collar. He wears a dark suit that keeps the focus on his expression—a straight‑forward pose that hints at his scientific purpose rather than theatrical flair.
Lankester was a public health reformer and natural historian. In 1854 he helped establish a cholera committee in Soho, proving through data that Dr John Snow’s water pump theory was correct—an early triumph of epidemiology. The portrait shows him in the studio of his fellow scientist‑photographer, Antoine Claudet, whose chemical experiments cut down the exposure time needed to hold still.
See it in person
Edwin Lankester is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
