Anthony Leigh, or the Spanish Fryer

Kneller, Godfrey, after · 1689

Mezzotint portrait on paper of comic actor Anthony Leigh (d.1692) as his most famous part, the corrupt Father Dominic in John Dryden's 'The Spanish Fryer' (1681), engraved and published by John Smith (1652-1743) in London in 1689. It is a copy of a painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) now in the National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 1280). The open box filled with gold coins refers to the play's subplot, a bribe taken by the friar to allow the antagonist Lorenzo access to pursue Elvira, who turns out to be Lorenzo's sister. For a comment on the working relationship between Kneller and Smith see CBL Wep 4178.83.