KNELLER’S COMPLIMENT TO LOUIS XIV.
Reading edition
When Kneller painted the portrait of Louis XIV., the monarch asked him what mark of his esteem would be most agreeable to him; whereupon he modestly answered that he should feel honored if his Majesty would bestow a quarter of an hour upon him, that he might execute a drawing of his face for himself. The request was granted. Kneller painted Dryden in his own hair, in plain drapery, holding a laurel, and made him a present of the work; to which the poet responded in an epistle containing encomiums such as few painters deserve.
“Such are thy pictures, Kneller! such thy skill, That nature seems obedient to thy will, Comes out and meets thy pencil in the draught, Lives there, and wants but words to speak the thought.”