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Primary sourcePhotographc. 1854

Florence Nightingale by Kilburn c1854

Kilburn · c. 1854

A carte-de-visite photograph of Florence Nightingale taken around the time she left for the Crimean War, one of the best-known images of her in life.

A lifetime photograph of Nightingale taken around the time she departed for the Crimean War.

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Sepia-toned photograph of a seated woman in a dark dress with a light-colored collar and a white lace cap, looking down toward her hands resting on a book or paper on her lap. She sits in an ornate carved wooden chair against a plain backdrop.
Florence Nightingale, photograph by Kilburn, c. 1854.

About this source

What it is

A small carte-de-visite photograph of Florence Nightingale, taken by the photographer Kilburn around 1854, the year she travelled to the Crimea to nurse wounded soldiers.

Why it matters

This is one of the most widely reproduced photographs of Nightingale taken during her lifetime, showing her seated quietly with a book or paper on her lap. It gives students a direct visual record of her appearance at the start of the work that made her famous, rather than a later idealised image.

Look closer

  • What does her pose and clothing suggest about how she wanted to be seen?
  • Why might photographs like this have been collected and shared as cartes-de-visite?
  • How does this quiet image compare with the dramatic painted scenes of her at Scutari?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Florence Nightingale on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Polar area diagram titled 'Diagram of the Causes of Mortality in the Army in the East' with two rose charts of blue, red, and black wedges for April 1854 to March 1856, with explanatory notes below.Document

Primary source

Diagram of the Causes of Mortality in the Army in the East

Florence Nightingale · 1858

Pen and ink sketch of a large multi-gabled Tudor-style country house with tall chimneys, surrounded by trees and shrubs. Handwritten caption at bottom reads 'Embley, Hampshire' and 'Sketched by Florence Nightingale'.Painting

Primary source

Embley Park, Hampshire

Florence Nightingale · 1854

Artifact

Primary source

Recording of the voice of Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale · 1890

Pen-and-ink sketch of a hospital ward. A woman in a long dark dress stands at right beside a wounded man seated on a bed. Other patients lie in beds along the left, and more beds are visible through a doorway at right. Handwritten numbers appear at upper left.Painting

Primary source

Lithograph of Florence Nightingale, 1854

1854

Painting of a hospital hall at Scutari with a tall arched doorway opening onto a city view. A woman in a grey dress stands center-left among soldiers, Turkish-dressed figures, and officers. A wounded soldier lies on a stretcher while a kneeling man tends him. A soldier in red points toward the doorway.Painting

Secondary source

The Mission of Mercy: Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari

Jerry Barrett · 1857

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