René Magritte, The Lovers (fresco)

Description

This work is the most famous version of the theme of lovers that often recurs in Magritte's painting. Faces covered by white sheets are also frequently present. According to many interpretations, the common thread of these works is to be found in the suicide of his mother of the painter in 1912, when the artist was only 14 years. In fact, the woman threw herself into the Sambre river with a night wrapped on the head. The painting depicts two lovers kissing, their heads covered by a white cloth that prevents them from seeing each other and communicating, arousing a sense of disquiet and anguish. Referring to the dramatic mourning he suffered at a young age, the kiss between the two lovers It could represent death that hinders the course of a story of love. The white drape represents the obstacle, the impossibility  of communicate and look at each other. We are faced with a mute love, incapable of express themselves with a language different from that of the body but which, despite this, he expresses a strong passion.