The Kiss
Artist: Auguste Rodin
Year Composed: 1882
Artistic Movement: Impressionism
Nationality: France
Floor Found in Château: First Garden
Year Composed: 1882
Artistic Movement: Impressionism
Nationality: France
Floor Found in Château: First Garden
About the Artwork
The Kiss is a marble sculpture (similar to the style of Michelangelo Buonarroti) composed in 1882 by Auguste Rodin. The sculpture is a larger depiction of the kissing figures that adorn the black, bronze doors of the Gates of Hell, another masterpiece by Rodin that is located in the Museo Soumaya (Mexico City, Mexico). The piece was originally titled Francesca da Rimini, as it represents the young Italian noblewoman highlighted within Dante Alighieri's Inferno, a book within his Divine Comedy (Circle II, Canto V). Francesca falls in love with her husband's younger brother, Paolo Malatesta. The couple's lips do not touch, as they met their doom before the kiss could occur, bringing them both to the second circle of Dante's Hell: Lust. Since 1887, criticism has caused the sculpture's name to be less specific, simply changing it to The Kiss.
About the Artist
François Auguste René Rodin, better known as Auguste Rodin, is known as one of the most famous French sculptors of all time. Most of his works contain themes of mythology, allegory, and nature, highlighting the human figure and body. The emotional appeal and contorting drama meshes the intricacy of Neoclassical sculptures with the drama and emotion of the Baroque. Rodin is one of the few sculptors known outside of the art world with modern society, especially with his sculptures that include The Shade (1881), The Kiss (1882), The Thinker (1880), and The Burghers of Calais (1889).
About the Movement
The Kiss was composed in the Impressionist Age of art. Impressionism was characterized by extremely loose brushstrokes that were visible throughout the entire painting. This 19th-Century (or 1800s) art movement took landscapes, figures, and objects and incorporated both movement and emotion. Impressionism, in a matter of style, was almost the blending between Cubism and Baroque art; that dramatic and emotional appeal of the Baroque mixed with the inclusion of motion and the passing of time of Cubism. Some of the most famous Impressionist artists included Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas.
Location of Original Work of Art: Rodin Museum, Paris, France
The Kiss is a marble sculpture (similar to the style of Michelangelo Buonarroti) composed in 1882 by Auguste Rodin. The sculpture is a larger depiction of the kissing figures that adorn the black, bronze doors of the Gates of Hell, another masterpiece by Rodin that is located in the Museo Soumaya (Mexico City, Mexico). The piece was originally titled Francesca da Rimini, as it represents the young Italian noblewoman highlighted within Dante Alighieri's Inferno, a book within his Divine Comedy (Circle II, Canto V). Francesca falls in love with her husband's younger brother, Paolo Malatesta. The couple's lips do not touch, as they met their doom before the kiss could occur, bringing them both to the second circle of Dante's Hell: Lust. Since 1887, criticism has caused the sculpture's name to be less specific, simply changing it to The Kiss.
About the Artist
François Auguste René Rodin, better known as Auguste Rodin, is known as one of the most famous French sculptors of all time. Most of his works contain themes of mythology, allegory, and nature, highlighting the human figure and body. The emotional appeal and contorting drama meshes the intricacy of Neoclassical sculptures with the drama and emotion of the Baroque. Rodin is one of the few sculptors known outside of the art world with modern society, especially with his sculptures that include The Shade (1881), The Kiss (1882), The Thinker (1880), and The Burghers of Calais (1889).
About the Movement
The Kiss was composed in the Impressionist Age of art. Impressionism was characterized by extremely loose brushstrokes that were visible throughout the entire painting. This 19th-Century (or 1800s) art movement took landscapes, figures, and objects and incorporated both movement and emotion. Impressionism, in a matter of style, was almost the blending between Cubism and Baroque art; that dramatic and emotional appeal of the Baroque mixed with the inclusion of motion and the passing of time of Cubism. Some of the most famous Impressionist artists included Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas.
Location of Original Work of Art: Rodin Museum, Paris, France