Lot Essay
Le baiser was originally conceived as an image for The Gates of Hell. Although the sculpture is usually dated 1886, the subject was in fact conceived much earlier. A similar group of embracing lovers appears in the clay model of The Gates and was probably executed not long after Rodin received the commission in 1880. In addition, Le baiser is clearly related in both subject and style to L'éternel printemps, which was probably modeled in 1884.
The lovers of Le baiser were inspired by a tale in Dante's Inferno in which an adulterous passion consumes Francesca da Rimini and her husband's brother, Paolo Malatesta. Of all the love stories in Dante, this forbidden liaison, so reminiscent of courtly love, had the greatest resonance for late nineteenth-century readers.
Rodin considered the group to be too large for The Gates of Hell and subsequently removed it from the design. He later executed a life-size version in painted plaster which he included in his exhibition at the 1887 salon in Brussels. Known as Françoise da Rimini, it was very well-received by the public. Rather than ship the sculpture back to Paris, Rodin gave it to his old Belgian friend Paul de Vignes. On the last day of 1887 Rodin was named to the Légion d'Honneur, and early the next year he received from the French government a commission of 20,000 francs to create a larger-than-life marble version of Françoise da Rimini, for which the state also provided a high-quality block of marble. Work progressed slowly, and the marble sculpture, now known as Le baiser, was finally exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1898.
The lovers of Le baiser were inspired by a tale in Dante's Inferno in which an adulterous passion consumes Francesca da Rimini and her husband's brother, Paolo Malatesta. Of all the love stories in Dante, this forbidden liaison, so reminiscent of courtly love, had the greatest resonance for late nineteenth-century readers.
Rodin considered the group to be too large for The Gates of Hell and subsequently removed it from the design. He later executed a life-size version in painted plaster which he included in his exhibition at the 1887 salon in Brussels. Known as Françoise da Rimini, it was very well-received by the public. Rather than ship the sculpture back to Paris, Rodin gave it to his old Belgian friend Paul de Vignes. On the last day of 1887 Rodin was named to the Légion d'Honneur, and early the next year he received from the French government a commission of 20,000 francs to create a larger-than-life marble version of Françoise da Rimini, for which the state also provided a high-quality block of marble. Work progressed slowly, and the marble sculpture, now known as Le baiser, was finally exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1898.