[2] 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.

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.

[5] 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.

[7] The Scottish National Portrait Gallery has a representative ten works, including another self-portrait,[8] and a group of subject pictures bought from his studio by Sir John Clerk is held at Penicuik.

Though they have been described, perhaps rather unfairly, as "stiff and archaic", these follow Milton's text carefully, unlike those of the artists used for the other prints, and usually include several different episodes in each illustration.