Francesco Hayez, The Kiss (panel)

Description

The scene is set in a vague medieval interior. It is of the entrance hall of a castle, of which three steps are highlighted, of the canvas, and the extensive stone wall; the surface of the latter homogeneously occupies almost the entire background of the painting, and in fact it is interrupted only by a Gothic pointed arch passage, introduced by a thin column, and by a mullioned window that stands out at the top just hinted at as it is cut by the upper edge of the picture. Well, in this medieval setting we are consummating a passionate and sensual kiss between two young lovers, in an atmosphere of romantic suspension. Man has an active role in the embrace, holding the head and face firmly in the hands of the beloved; on the contrary, the latter languidly indulges in the effusions, limiting himself to squeezing the shoulders of the beloved with his arm left. Enraptured in an ecstasy of love, the two bodies interpenetrate passionately, with the bust of the man who indulges the supple body of his partner, arched in front of such an overwhelming passion.