Right Hon Austen Henry Layard DCL, British Ambassador to Constantinople mb-code LW001152 A view of Piccadilly Circus

A view of Piccadilly Circus

The golden domes and minarets of the al-Kadhimiya Mosque

Head and shoulders portrait of Taylor Combe

Plate 16 from The eruption of Krakatoa

Right Hon Austen Henry Layard DCL, British Ambassador to Constantinople mb-code LW001152 A view of Piccadilly CircusRight 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.