The Kiss (section)

Two lovers wrapped in shimmering gold, lost in a single tender moment. This is "The Kiss," painted by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt between 1907 and 1908, during what people now call his "Golden Period." Klimt actually used real gold leaf in this work, a technique he picked up after seeing glittering Byzantine mosaics in Italy. Look closely and you'll notice the two figures wear different patterns: the man is covered in bold black and white rectangles, while the woman is decorated with soft, colorful circles and flowers. It's a quiet way of showing the difference between them, even as they melt into one another.

There's something dreamlike about the way the couple kneels at the edge of a flowery meadow, almost floating against that endless golden background. Klimt was part of the Vienna Secession, a group of artists who broke away from traditional rules to try something fresh and decorative. The painting was a hit from the start, and the Austrian government bought it before it was even finished. Today it hangs in the Belvedere museum in Vienna, where crowds still gather to see it. Some say the man in the picture is Klimt himself, though nobody knows for sure who the woman might be.