This bronze sculpture of The Kiss is a posthumous cast from the original plasters modeled by Auguste Rodin in the early 1880s.

The embracing couple represents Paolo and Francesca, the doomed lovers from Dante’s Inferno, and was first conceived as part of Rodin’s monumental Gates of Hell before he developed it as an independent work. Seated on a jagged outcropping, the two nude figures lean into each other, the man’s hand resting on the woman’s thigh as she wraps her arm around his neck. Stamp signed “A. Rodin” on the base, the cast bears a raised cartouche that reads “Masters Limited Edition, A. Rodin” and a hand-scratched “11/24.”

The Kiss after Auguste Rodin, French (1840–1917)
Bronze Sculpture, Signature and edition stamped on base
Edition of 11/24
Size: 35 x 21 x 19 in. (88.9 x 53.34 x 48.26 cm)
Foundry: Masters Limited Edition, Italy