The Kiss
by Auguste Rodin, 1889
Artwork Details
Details
- Year
- 1889
- Medium
- Marble
- Size
- 181.5 cm × 112.5 cm × 117 cm
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Auguste Rodin sculpted this embrace between Paolo and Francesca, adulterous lovers from Dante's Inferno. The two figures merge into one flowing form, their bodies turning toward each other in a moment of passionate surrender. Their lips don't quite touch, capturing the instant before the fatal kiss.
Originally part of the Gates of Hell, Rodin removed the group because its sensuality seemed too cheerful for the damned. The smooth, polished marble creates an idealized vision of love that proved enormously popular. Rodin made several versions in different sizes and materials.
The original marble stands at the Musée Rodin in Paris.
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About The Kiss
The original marble is at the Musée Rodin in Paris. A second large marble version is at the Tate Modern in London. A third is at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. Multiple bronze casts also exist in museums worldwide.
The marble version stands 181.5 cm (about 6 feet) tall. Rodin originally sculpted the couple as part of his Gates of Hell in 1882, at a smaller scale. The French government commissioned the first large marble version in 1888, though it wasn't publicly shown until 1898.
They're Paolo and Francesca, two lovers from Dante's Inferno. Francesca was married to Paolo's brother. They fell in love while reading a story about Lancelot together, and her husband killed them both. In Dante's poem, they're condemned to the second circle of Hell. Rodin shows the moment just before their first kiss, the book still in Paolo's hand.
It bridges Impressionism and early modernism. Compared to the smooth, static nudes of academic Neoclassical sculpture, Rodin's figures twist and lean into each other with visible emotion. The polished marble contrasts with rougher, unfinished areas at the base, a signature Rodin technique.
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