'Mapping the Body'
Florence Nightingale travelled widely as a young woman. She visited France, Italy, Greece and Egypt and trained to be a nurse in Germany, before sailing for Turkey and the Crimea. As well as the famous sights, she would visit hospitals wherever she went. The journey of Florence’s long life and her quest for improvements in nursing, the care of the sick and the status of women, inspired the artist Susan Stockwell.
Susan worked with young women from Cotelands PRU School in Croydon during her residency at the Museum. With Susan, they mapped their personal journeys in life-size drawings, and they created the sculpture “Flo” in her shape. Some of the girls met Sarah Brown, who has an active interest in maternity issues.
Sarah Brown said: “Florence Nightingale was an amazing woman who revolutionised nursing practice against considerable odds. The work the Museum has done with these young women is truly fitting of her quest to not only ensure that women received the highest standards of care and attention through pregnancy, but also the support and aftercare so vital to both mother and child achieving their full potential.
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'Foolish portrait' - Images of Florence
Florence did not sit for many portraits. In 1864 she was persuaded by her family to sit for the artist George Frederic Watts (1817-1904). He hoped that the portrait would be included in his series of famous, Victorian contemporaries, but Florence only sat for him twice and he had to abandon the picture as unfinished. It appears that she was unwell at this time and the portrait shows her with a puffy face and an uncomfortable expression.
The portrait is on loan from the Watts Gallery, Compton, Surrey. | 
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