The Kiss is Auguste Rodin’s sculpture of two lovers embracing, inspired by the tragic lovers Paolo and Francesca in Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Rodin first planned the pair as part of The Gates of Hell, his monumental project based partly on Dante. In the poem, Francesca da Rimini falls in love with Paolo, her husband’s brother; the couple are discovered and killed, then condemned to wander eternally in the second circle of Hell.
Rodin removed the group from The Gates of Hell because its sensual tenderness conflicted with the surrounding scenes of punishment. The marble version commissioned by the French state was exhibited at the Salon of 1898 and became known simply as The Kiss.
The sculpture’s title is modern and does not appear to have been Rodin’s original title for the Dantean group. Its smooth marble surfaces and tightly interlocked pose helped make it one of Rodin’s most widely recognized works.