News from Italy
The works of art and the cryptic stories:
Francesco Hayez’s kisses and secrets
by Ayfer Selamoğlu
The calendars were showing February 10, 1791. It was cold and foggy in Venice. The cries of a newborn baby came from a poor house. His mother was born on the island of Murano, where an independent identity prevailed under colourful glasses. His father was a French fisherman. After he grew up a little, he was sent to live with her wealthy aunt in Milan. Her husband was an art historian and collector. The 19th century, in which he lived, witnessed the winds of independence and integration. Of course, he was fed by his Italian mother and French father, her aunt’s husband, an art collector, and the country’s political atmosphere. This boy who would later write his name among the immortals was Francesco Hayez…
His most famous work is the painting with three versions called ‘Kiss’, which is still controversial and the mystery of which is being tried to be solved. This painting, drawn by Hayez in 1859, now resides in Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera. Its full title is: “The Kiss. Youth section. Costumes of the fourteenth century.”
In the 14th century, we see two lovers in a place like a castle, reminiscent of a medieval fairy tale. They embraced each other in a passionate kiss. Their identities are unknown. The hat on the young man’s head hides his face. He is dressed in bright red tights and a large cloak that opens to reveal the sword at his hip. He stepped on the first rung of the stairs with his left foot. It looks like it’s going to go soon. The young girl is dressed in an elegant blue dress. She knows that her lover is going to war. She gracefully grabs him by the shoulder. What is this? They are not alone. On the left, we see a dark shadow, a threat, watching them in the dim light… So who is he?
Of course, the kiss is a symbolic picture. To find out who the dark shadow is, we need to discover the identity of the two lovers. The way to this is through the spirit of the time.
Hayez lived in an extraordinary period of political history. After the Roman Empire, Italy could not establish its sovereignty for close to 1400 years. It lived in the shadow of the Holy Roman-Germanic Empire, headed by Austria. The country’s northern lands were under Austria’s rule, and Papal was under the influence of France. Other regions were city-states where trade and maritime were prominent. Piedmont, the Sardinian state, played a leading role in the union of Italy. Their leader were King II Victor Emmanuel and Prime Minister Camillo Benso, also known as Count Cavour. From 1830, Cavour started to work for the national unity of Italy, and when he became prime minister in 1852, he began to follow a policy in line with this aim. He wanted to strengthen the economy and the army to be prepared for a possible Austrian war. But on the road to freedom, Italy needed the support of France. And finally, in 1859, Camillo Benso- Count Cavour III. Secret agreements were made between Napoleon.
Considering that the painting was exhibited at the Brera Academy on September 9, 1859, after the entry of Vittorio Emanuele II and Napoleon III to Milan, could Hayez have shared the passionate desire for freedom of the Italian people with this painting he painted in 1859? Could he have presented Austria as a threat? Because, at that time, all negotiations and agreements between France and Italy were secret. Could the kiss represent the union between Italy and France, and the hidden figure in the shadows represents Austria? Anyone who spied on, followed and spied on them could only be Austria then… And does the dagger of the man with the handle pressed to the girl’s side imply a close struggle against the Austrian invaders?
Two other versions support the idea that Hayez’s work contains political commentary. In the painting he made in 1861, the young girl’s dress turns from blue to white. This time, the couple is further and dimly at a distance. The mysterious person on the left is more straightforward this time. That year is important for Italians. On February 18, 1861, the newly elected Italian parliament convened for the first time, and on March 17 of the same year, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed king of Italy. United Italy was born in Turin, but its capital was to be Rome. At the historic session of March 27, 1861, when Cavour spoke of “the free Church in a free state,” the Assembly symbolically proclaimed Rome the capital of the new Kingdom.
In the private collection dated 1867, Hayez’s political messages became clearer. The young man’s red tights, green cap and jacket collar, and the young girl’s blue dress are the colours of the two countries’ flags. But one more colour has been added to the picture. The colours of the flags were completed by throwing a white cloth, which symbolises purity, cleanliness, joy, and life and a white page on the stairs. The source of the light is given from the left, that is, where the dark shadow is. This lengthened the shadows. The way the young man puts one of his legs on the ladder, which shows his haste, is more evident in this work. It’s like saying, “Our struggle is not over. I must go”.
Although this work was made in the 19th century, the clothes and the architecture in the background reflect the 14th century. Could Hayez refer to the period of rebirth that would begin after the late Middle Ages?
The canvas is also a manifesto of historical Romanticism. Hayez is the most excellent Italian representative; therefore, the scene takes place in the Middle Ages, an age idealized in those years. He wears the clothes of these two youths, which can be placed chronologically in the fourteenth century, from the paintings of the proto-Raphaelites in Europe to the historical novels of Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas, and Alessandro Manzoni in the literary field.
Hayez has masterfully constructed this trend in his work. In the romantic movement, emotions are ahead of all social rules. Young lovers are on a fling date. The fact that the young man put his foot on the ladder creates the perception that he will go immediately. The woman knows that she cannot prevent her lover from leaving at any moment. That’s why he put his hand lightly on his lover’s shoulder. A shadow in the lower left corner is also perceived as a threat in this context. Some compared the couple to Romeo and Juliet. While there is some truth to it, these two characters do not represent Romeo and Juliet. In 1823, Francesco Hayez made a work representing Shakespearean characters, entitled “The last kiss given to Juliet by Romeo, who had to run away, is about to go out the window”. In the work, we see Juliet’s room and a large open window. Romeo is about to go downstairs but stops to kiss the young girl who has just gotten out of bed and is still wearing her slippers!
The success of Hayez’s works, which he gave by blending his political messages with romanticism, was reflected in other works of art. Gerolamo Induno paid a double homage to Hayez with his works “La Partenzo del garibaldino” and “Triste presentimento” in 1860, just one year after the 1859 Brera Exhibition. In Induno’s work, we see the 1861 version of The Kiss hanging on the wall of a little girl’s room next to a bust of Garibaldi. The woman in the work of Giuseppe Reina carries a print of Kiss in her hand.
The woman in the work of Giuseppe Reina carries a print of Kiss in her hand. Giovanni Buitoni, founder of the famous Perugina Chocolate House, renamed his chocolate, formerly Cazzotto, to Bacio Perugina. Art Director Francesco Senece designed boxes with words of love and chocolate wrapping papers in starry blue with a picture of two lovers. In 1954, director Luchino Visconti shot one of the leading scenes in his movie “Sinner Hearts”, inspired by this picture.
Francesco Hayez gave a political message through his works, which he embellished with romance, colours and symbols. He demonstrated Italy’s will to liberate. His works, similar to Alessandro Manzoni’s in the literary field and Giuseppe Verdi’s in music, helped to unify the country before they landed on the battlefields and carried him into the universe of immortal artists…