This oval ivory medallion is probably made by Gaspar van der Hagen, after John Michael Rysbrack, in ca. 1740-69. The poet and essayist Milton (1608-1674) is depicted in profile facing right. This portrait may be derived from the bust by John Michael Rysbrack (1694-1770) on the monument to Milton in Westminster Abbey of 1738 (Webb 1954, fig. 50). Milton was an English poet, essayist and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost. Gaspar van der Hagen (active London 1744 – York 1769) worked both in marble and in ivory. He seems to have concentrated in small ivory heads, some after full-size busts by John Michaerl Rysbrack (1694-1770). He was aparaently a native of Antwerp, who practised in London for most of his life. He may be indentical to the monogrammist GVDR. Rysbrack (1694-1770) was born in Antwerp, and trained in the Netherlands, but spent his working life in Britain. He was one of the most important sculptors active in this country in the first half of the 18th century, and specialised in portrait busts and funerary monuments. Although he never visited Italy, many of his works are clearly indebted to classical archetypes. His terracotta models are particularly fine, and are often virtually finished pieces in their own right.