Which medieval lovers are represented in Auguste Rodin’s The Kiss?

Auguste Rodin’s The Kiss represents Paolo and Francesca.

The sculpture depicts Paolo Malatesta and Francesca da Rimini, lovers from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Francesca was married to Paolo’s brother, Giovanni Malatesta, and the pair were discovered and killed after beginning their relationship. Dante placed them among the souls punished for lust in Inferno.

Rodin originally conceived the work for The Gates of Hell, his monumental project inspired by Dante. The lovers’ intimate pose and the tenderness of the embrace led the sculpture to acquire the simpler title The Kiss. Unlike some of Rodin’s more tormented figures, the work presents a moment of physical closeness and emotional intensity.

The subject is sometimes mistaken for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet because both stories involve forbidden love. Rodin’s literary source is specifically Dante’s account of Paolo and Francesca, not Shakespeare’s tragedy.