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When Rodin first exhibited a plaster version of these lovers in 1887, he called it "Francesca di Rimini," a nod to the nobewoman whose doomed affair with her brother-in-law Paolo was vividly recorded in Dante's "Divine Comedy." Puzzled by the reference to Dante's poem of arouns 1308-21, which recounts the author's journey to hell, purgatory andf heaven, a critic suggested Rodin call the work simply "The Kiss." The new title focuses attention on the couple's heads, yet Rodin uses their hands too convey the intimacy and sensitivity of the moment.
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