Right Hon Austen Henry Layard DCL, British Ambassador to Constantinople mb-code LW001152 Inscribed 'Laviraia Salv

Inscribed 'Laviraia Salv

View showing an audience watching a man balancing on one leg on a moving horse

A view of Piccadilly Circus

Montagu wears a long wig and the blue ribbon and star of the Order of the Garter

Head and shoulders portrait of Taylor Combe

Right Hon Austen Henry Layard DCL, British Ambassador to Constantinople mb-code LW001152 Inscribed 'Laviraia SalvRight Hon Austen Henry Layard DCL, British Ambassador to Constantinople, 1877. Between 1845 and 1851, Layard (1817 1894) excavated the remains of the ancient Assyrian capitals of Nimrud and Nineveh and revealed the reliefs that decorated the royal palaces. These and other objects recovered from Mesopotamia astonished Europe and Layard's account of his discoveries became a best seller. In 1851 he retired from excavation to take up a life in politics.