While visiting the second circle in Hell, Virgil and Dante saw, among those who had committed sins of the flesh, Paolo and Francesca, two personages who had really lived in the Middle Ages in Italy. Around 1275, Francesca, the daughter of Guido da Polenta, married Gianciotto Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, who entrusted her in the care of his brother, the handsome young Paolo. Paolo and Francesca fell in love with each other while reading romances of courtly love. As soon as they exchanged their first kiss, Gianciotto caught them by surprise and stabbed them. "Love has led us to a unique death" Dante makes their shades say. Rodin portrayed the famous lovers at the very instant they became aware of their feelings. Like many groups originating from the Gate, The Kiss became an independent work. On January 31, 1888, the Directorate of Fine Arts commissioned a version in marble for the group was supposed to be shown at the Universal Exhibition which opened on May 6, 1889. Unfortunately, Jean Turcan, the practicien who was responsible for carving the group in marble, stopped working on it at the beginning of 1889. Rodin left it unfinished and the marble version was only shown at the Salon of the Sociéte Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1898. After being presented again at the Universal Exhibition of 1900, The Kiss entered the Musée du Luxembourg before being deposited at the Rodin Museum.
