'The Kiss' derives from a group conceived for Rodin's 'Gate of Hell', representing the doomed lovers Paolo and Francesca in Dante's 'Inferno'. In 1887 the French State commissioned a larger than life marble version, which was first exhibited in 1898. The bronze edition to which this work belongs was cast by Alexis Rudier, who became Rodin's founder in 1902. Purchased by Gwendoline Davies in 1912, it was included in the 'Loan exhibition' organised by the National Museum of Wales in 1913 which opened in the City Hall in Cardiff.