M any Auguste Rodin sculptures have achieved great fame, such as The Thinker (1880). However, unlike The Thinker, which epitomizes thought and rationality, The Kiss (c. 1882) portrays burning desire and passion. Although it was outrageous when first exhibited in 1887, the public could not get enough of it, and neither can we.
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The Kiss sculpture by Auguste Rodin is considered to be one of the most romantic sculptures in the Western world. The sculpture, which shows two nude figures in an embrace, shocked the public upon its release in 1887. Although it is no longer controversial it is still frequently spoken about today.
During the 15 years of their tempestuous romance, Rodin created some of his most brilliant works, including “The Kiss”. Claudel was a very sensual woman and often acted as his model and his muse for sculptures.
Claudel was not Rodin’s first mistress, but she was certainly his most passionate. During the 15 years of their tempestuous romance, Rodin created some of his most brilliant works, including “The Kiss”. Claudel was a very sensual woman and often acted as his model and his muse for sculptures.
Look closely, and you can see the book slipping from the man’s left hand. In the mid-1880s, though, the plans for the new museum foundered, and Rodin’s Gates of Hell, as they eventually became known, were not cast in bronze until after his death.
By 1886, though, Rodin had decided anyway that his bas-relief of Paolo and Francesca would work better as a large, spiralling sculpture in the round – and the following year, the French state commissioned him to execute the work in marble on a scale larger than life.
Yet Rodin’s curiosity about female sexuality is even more apparent in other, more explicit works of art displayed at the Musée Rodin, such as the startling Iris, Messenger of the Gods (c 1895), in which a headless naked woman hurtles through space in mid-air.
Called Faith, the group would represent the illicit passion of Paolo and Francesca, whom Dante met in the second circle of hell, buffeted by an eternal whirlwind, and who were a popular subject in 19th Century art.
Rodin initially represented the illicit passion of Paolo and Francesca as a relief sculpture for bronze doors (Credit: VPC Photo/Alamy Stock Photo) As a theme, he chose Dante’s Inferno. From the off, he planned to sculpt a pair of lovers in relief in the middle of the left-hand door panel.
According to the original 13th Century story, Francesca and Paolo fell for one another as they sat reading tales of courtly love. When Francesca’s husband, who was also Paolo’s brother, discovered them, he stabbed them to death. Rodin decided to depict the lovers at the moment of their first kiss.
The origins of the sculpture can be traced to 1880, when Rodin, who had been born in a working-class district of Paris as the son of a police clerk, was approaching 40. By then, he had established his reputation.