Exhibition sheds new light on Lady With The Lamp
LOST FOR a century in a sheaf of papers, the family album begun by Florence Nightingale’s aunt casts the Lady With The Lamp in an altogether different light.
Ann Elizabeth Nicholson’s depiction of her niece, which is going on display for the first time to mark the bicentenary of Ms Nightingale’s birth, had been passed down through generations of her family before being forgotten.
Its rediscovery last year will challenge visitors whose knowledge of Ms Nightingale did not extend beyond her work during the Crimean War, said David Green, director of The Florence Nightingale Museum, on London’s South Bank.
She is often pictured in her 30s, but the exhibition aims to remember the triumphs of the more mature woman, who shunned the limelight and returned home as Mrs Smith – suffering illness and depression
David Green, director of The Florence Nightingale Museum.
that would now be diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder. One photograph shows her in bed at the age of 86, four years before she died.
“The family album is a wonderful find,” Mr Green said. “Florence’s international fame endures because her achievements were utterly transformative and the whole exhibition is designed to surprise people whose knowledge doesn’t go much beyond The Lady With The Lamp.”
The exhibition, at St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, follows the discovery four years ago of correspondence between Ms Nightingale and her cousin, Marianne, who lived at Lotherton Hall, in Leeds. Mr Green said: “These items bring us closer to two important aspects of Florence’s life – the Crimean War work which propelled her to fame, and her tight family bonds.”
The whole exhibition is designed to surprise people.