Edward Burch

Him the Almighty Power

Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie

With hideous ruine and combustion down

To bottomless perdition, there to dwell

In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,

Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.

John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book i (Satan's Fall)

Milton's Paradise Lost, published 1667, is one of the most celebrated epic poems in the English language. His status as one of England's greatest poets warranted Edward Burch to engrave this sublime historicising intaglio portrait. Portraits of worthies were popular in 18th-century England and the present intaglio stands in the tradition of historicising portrait busts begun by Rysbrack and Roubiliac.

Edward Burch (1730 – 1814) was one of the most celebrated 18th-century gem-engravers. Self taught, he gained an international reputation for his gems depicting British intellectuals and worthies as well as classical figures such as his intaglio with Hercules in the British Museum (inv. no. 1978,1002.1083). He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1770 and thereafter added the letters RA to his signature. Carnelian was a favoured stone; compare with the intaglio with the head of the Apollo Belevdere in the British Museum (inv. no. 1952,1102.1).