5 among the best kisses in the History of Art

Art has always been the means through which mankind gave a tangible form to emotions, desires and fears. Therefore it does not surprise that love, being perhaps the strongest emotions of all and what every human craves, became one of the main themes throughout the history of art. Everyone loves the idea of love, everyone wants to see people caring for each other, everyone loves a kissing scene, right?
So here are 5 of the most famous masterpieces in the History of Art representing beautiful kisses.

The Kiss (1859) by Francesco Hayez
This painting is probably one of the first images that comes to mind when thinking about art works that represent a couple kissing.
You can feel the passion of this encounter, as the man firmly holds his beloved and she kisses him back in total abandon. The impact of the image is even stronger because it feels like a goodbye. The man has a foot on the stairs ready to flee: is this a forbidden love and he needs to leave before the lovers are discovered? Is he leaving for battle?
Probably the latter. In fact, it’s not just love what Francesco Hayez wants to convey with this painting, there is more to read beneath the surface.
The painting shows two lovers dressed in medieval clothes, but the painting was made during the Risorgimento era and hides some symbolic reference to the time.
The dagger the man hides in the mantle and the colors of his attire - blue and red, reference to the French flag - tell us he is a patriot who fights for independence.

In Bed, the Kiss (1892) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Part of a series he created for the salon of a brothel at the rue d'Ambroise, this is one of the rare representations of two women kissing in Western art. Toulouse-Lautrec created 16 portraits after spending some time observing the people visiting and working at the brothel.
Here he decided to represent a moment of deep affection between the two women, showing no sign of judgment, but beautifully capturing this “forbidden love”.

The Lovers II (1928) By René Magritte
Love does not always equal happiness, as this painting by Magritte shows us. It represents a man and a woman kissing through veils, their whole head wrapped up in cloth. A suffocating kiss, a frustrated kiss, a kiss that speaks of loneliness. They are in what looks like an empty room, the atmosphere is far from being warm, we feel only cold and distance.
The lovers are unable to truly touch and communicate and we are left wondering if this is a forbidden love, an unrequited love or if they are simply two people growing apart.

The Kiss (1880) by Auguste Rodin
Originally designed to be part of The Gates of Hell, depicting a scene from Dante’s Inferno, this sculpture represents the love of Paolo and Francesca. Francesca’s husband surprised the two lovers as they were exchanging their first kiss and killed them, thus they were condemned to eternal punishment in Hell for their adulterous sin.
Apparently the sculpture was too sensual and did not fit in with the project Rodin had in mind, so he made it into a stand-alone piece.
The eroticism of the sculpture indeed stirred some controversy when it was first exhibited in 1887, nevertheless, Rodin made other three marble versions of this and also smaller versions in bronze, terracotta and plaster.
It remains one of the most sensual sculptures in modern Western art.

The Kiss (1907-1908) by Gustav Klimt
The one depicted by Gustav Klimt is probably the most famous depiction of a kiss in the world, and a great example of his Art Nouveau style as well as his Gold Period. . Everyone recognizes the image when they see it, a man embracing a kneeling woman with flaming red hair surrounded by a richly decorated background, where gold is the great protagonist.
It's hard to tell where one body ends and the other begins, the couple is fused in gold, as if their love and desire made them one entity.