Dimensions 90 x 112 cm
Editor: Here we have Francesco Hayez's *The Kiss*, painted in 1859 using oil paints. I'm immediately struck by the contrast of the scene's intimacy with the very public-seeming space they occupy. The tension is palpable! What do you see in this piece? Curator: Oh, honey, I see so much more than just a kiss. I see a whole lotta *risorgimento* brewing! This isn't just any embrace, it’s practically dripping with coded political sentiment. You've got your Romeo-and-Juliet yearning, sure, but scratch the surface and it's all about Italian nationalism bubbling up, you know? That specific shade of blue in her dress, that's the House of Savoy's blue, see? A quiet wink to the supporters of Italian unification. What do you make of that shadowy figure in the background, do you think it might imply their escape? Editor: That’s fascinating! I was so focused on the personal aspect, I hadn’t considered the historical context. And yes, I did think the shadows contributed to that sense of hurried departure! So, Hayez was using romantic imagery to talk about something much larger? Curator: Absolutely! It’s a loaded symbol. The painting works on so many levels: the timeless theme of lovers parting, and that clandestine air, all the while subtly referencing a burning desire for a united Italy. It’s sneaky, romantic rebellion at its finest! Though I wouldn't mind knowing where they're sneaking off to. Any ideas? Editor: Ha! Maybe they're off to a unification meeting? I'll never look at a kissing couple the same way again! Thanks, that really opened my eyes to the painting’s depth. Curator: Anytime, darling! Art, like kisses, is rarely just what's on the surface. There’s always a story hiding beneath.
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📷Francesco Hayez (1791-1882) was one of the leading artists of Italian Romanticism. Born in Venice into a relatively poor family of French and Italian parentage, he was apprenticed to an art restorer. Unfortunately, much of Hayez's career is difficult to assess, since he often neither signed nor dated his works. Hayez was the key figure in the transition from Neoclassicism to Romanticism in Italy, although his form of Romanticism is more apparent in his subject matter than in his technique. Remarkable in its intense clarity of light, The Kiss depicts a genteel young couple engaged in a charged, passionate encounter. The man and woman embrace as if they are stealing a forbidden kiss in a forbidden place; the woman's hand is electrified with passion, the man's hand soft on her face. The lyrical shadow to their right draws our eyes to the length of her sensuous, draping, intricately rendered silk skirt. The Kiss, which has become a famous symbol of Italian Romanticism, is shadowed with an air of hazy nostalgia and tender melancholy. The painting demonstrates Hayez's ordered, Neoclassical composition and refined, narrative style.
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