The Kiss - Rodin

Imagine being a giant, sleepy block of white stone, as big as a refrigerator. For a long, long time, I was just a quiet piece of marble. Then one day, I felt a gentle tap-tap-tapping. It was a sculptor, an artist who shapes stone, and he was using his special tools to wake me up. Chip by chip, he carved away the extra stone. It tickled a little. Slowly, I saw two people starting to appear from inside me. It was like they were playing hide-and-seek and were finally found. They leaned into each other, sharing a quiet, gentle hug. I could feel their closeness right in my core. I wasn't just a block anymore; I was holding a secret, a feeling of warmth and peace that filled me up from my stony head to my stony toes.

Hello there. I am The Kiss. The artist who helped me come out of the stone was named Auguste Rodin. He was a wonderful sculptor, which is a big word for someone who makes art out of hard things like stone or metal. He created me in a busy, beautiful city called Paris, a very long time ago, around the year 1882. Auguste was like a magician with his tools. He could look at a block of stone and see a story waiting inside. He knew just how to tap the marble with his hammer and chisel to make it look as soft as a pillow and as real as you are. People said he made stone breathe. My skin, even though it’s cold, hard marble, looks smooth and warm because of his careful, loving work. At first, Auguste had a different plan for me. He was making a gigantic, serious sculpture for a huge door. He called it 'The Gates of Hell,' and it was meant to be filled with characters from a famous old poem who were sad and serious. He thought I could be part of that big, dramatic story. But when he carved the two people hugging, he looked at us and smiled. He realized my feeling of love was too peaceful and sweet for such a scary gate. I was a happy whisper in a loud, sad story. So, he had a brilliant idea. He decided I should be my very own work of art, a sculpture that could stand all by itself and share its happy feeling with the world. He worked for years, making sure every curve was perfect, capturing that one special, quiet moment of a gentle hug and a loving kiss forever and ever.

Today, I don't live in Auguste's workshop anymore. I live in a beautiful, bright museum in Paris, where people from all over the world come to visit me. They walk into my room, and when they see me, they often grow very quiet. Children and grown-ups stand and look, and sometimes I see them smile a little. I think seeing the two people I hold inside me makes them feel warm and happy inside, just like a real hug would. It's funny, isn't it? I am made of cold, hard stone, but I share a feeling that everyone in the whole world understands: love. A simple, kind hug is one of the most special things we can share. It doesn't need words, and it connects us to our family and friends. I get to be a reminder of that wonderful connection. Auguste Rodin caught that feeling and froze it in time so that it could be shared forever. So, whenever you see a statue or a painting, remember that it might be holding a feeling, just like I do, waiting to share it with you.