The Kiss

Stand close and you will see that the gold is not a flat background but a surface of applied leaf, scratched and layered, with real gold and silver as well as bronze powder in the paint. Notice how the two lovers are distinguished by pattern: his cloak is covered in hard black and white rectangles, hers in soft circles and flowers. The bodies underneath are barely described. Only the faces and hands are fully modelled, which makes them feel startlingly alive against the ornament. Klimt had absorbed the Byzantine mosaics he saw in Ravenna, and the picture is in many ways a modern icon, square in format and meant to glow.

The Austrian state bought the painting straight from the exhibition, before it was even finished, for a sum that was then the highest ever paid for a work by a living Austrian artist. It has hung here ever since, and it is the reason most people climb the hill to the Belvedere. A detail that is easy to miss: the woman's toes curl at the very edge of the meadow, as if she is holding on to the earth while the gold threatens to carry them both away.

Did You Know? The state bought the painting before Klimt had finished it, for twenty five thousand crowns, a record price for a living Austrian artist at the time.