Florence Nightingale
- Artist: Alessandro Parlanti
- Artist: Sir John Robert Steell
- Date: 1859-1862
- Medium: bronze
- Dimensions: 28 3/4 in. x 17 3/4 in. (730 mm x 450 mm) overall
- Portrays: Florence Nightingale
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
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About this artwork
This bronze bust captures Florence Nightingale with her gentle profile and thoughtful gaze. The cast reproduces the original marble sketch she posed for in 1859, but the details—her neatly worn headscarf and the subtle contour of her cheekbones—are rendered in smooth bronze patina. Sir John Robert Steell sculpted the form, while Alessandro Parlanti forged it from metal around 1862. The piece was gifted by Sir Harry L. Stephen and Lady Stephen in 1915.
See it in person
Florence Nightingale 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.
