Where did John Baptist Medina work from 1685 to 1686?
John Baptist Medina Sir John Baptist Medina or John Baptiste de Medina ( 1659 – 5 October 1710 ) was an artist of Flemish-Spanish origin who worked in England and Scotland , mostly as a portrait painter , though he was also the first illustrator of Paradise Lost by John Milton in 1688 . Life and portrait-painting . Medina was the son of a Spanish army captain posted to Brussels , where he was born and later trained by François Duchatel , before coming to London in 1686 and setting up his studio in Drury Lane . Even in London he seems to have specialized in Scottish sitters , and in either 1688–89 or 1694 he moved to Edinburgh , where he remained for the rest of his life . He was encouraged and sponsored by the Earl of Melville , who he painted in London . From 1689 Melville , like many of Medinas subjects a strong Whig , was Secretary of State for Scotland , effectively running the country for the King in London . With little competition , Medina was the most prominent Scottish portraitist for the rest of his life , charging £5 for a head and £10 for a half-length . His best known works are a group of about 30 oval bust-lengths , including a self-portrait , in Surgeons Hall , Edinburgh ; these are invariably compared to the Kit Cat Club series in London by Sir Godfrey Kneller . His style follows the conventions of Kneller , but his portraits are often more relaxed and informal , favouring relatively bright blues and rose-reds in the clothing , and dark backgrounds . The quality of the painting can vary considerably , probably reflecting the use of his assistants . In 1706 he was knighted , one of the last batch of Scottish knights to be created before the Acts of Union 1707 . Medina died in Edinburgh on 5 October 1710 . He was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in the centre of the city . The grave is a solid enclosed vault on the east side , now appearing half-sunken , adjacent to the steps leading to the northern section . The engraver , William Howison , is buried in front of the vault . He trained both his own son and the talented William Aikman , the leading Scottish portrait-painter of the next generation . The Scottish National Portrait Gallery has a representative ten works , including another self-portrait , and most of his paintings remain in Scotland – there are none , for example , in the National Portrait Gallery , London . Illustrations to Paradise Lost . Although he appears to have painted other types of work than portraits , the only works other than portraits known to survive are his eight ( out of a total of twelve plates prefacing each book of the poem ) engraved book illustrations for the fourth edition , the first to be illustrated , of Paradise Lost by John Milton , published in London by Jacob Tonson in 1688 . Though they have been described , perhaps rather unfairly , as stiff and archaic , these follow Miltons text carefully , unlike those of the artists used for the other prints , and usually include several different episodes in each illustration . Appropriately , Medina drew on traditional Biblical iconography , carefully and imaginatively adapting it to fit Miltons text . Medinas designs preface Books 3 and 5 to 11 ; the plates were engraved from his designs by a specialist , Michael Burghers ( also Burgese or Burgess ) , a Flemish engraver working in Oxford , who signed all but one plate as the engraver . They were still being used , in rather worn-out condition , for the sixth edition of 1695 . The exact authorship of some plates is a matter of dispute . Purely based on the interpretation of a hand-written note attributed to Horace Walpole in the New York City Public Library copy of the book , Henry Aldrich , an Oxford don of diverse talents , but not otherwise known as an artist , has been identified as the unknown artist of some plates , usually Books I , II and XII . Bernard Lens II , otherwise known as a painter of enamels , is signed as the artist for Book IV , and Medina is signed as the artist for one more plate than some say would seem likely to be his on stylistic grounds . References . - National Galleries of Scotland biography - Behrendt , Stephen C. ; The Moment of Explosion : Blake and the Illustration of Milton , University of Nebraska Press , 1983 , - Earl Roy Miner , William Moeck , Steven Edward Jablonski , Steven Jablonski ; Paradise Lost , 1668–1968 : Three Centuries of Commentary , Bucknell University Press , 2004 , , online - Waterhouse , Ellis ; Painting in Britain , 1530–1790 , 4th Edn , 1978 , Penguin Books ( now Yale History of Art series ) Further reading . - Marshall , Rosalind K . John de Medina , 1659–1710 . Edinburgh , National Galleries of Scotland , 1988 ( 32pp ) ,