The Kiss

Look at the lower-right corner of the painting. The lovers are kneeling at the edge of a precipice. Her toes curl over the rim. The composition makes the kiss a moment before falling. Klimt placed the embrace at a literal edge. The gold is real gold leaf; his father was a gold engraver in Vienna. The painting carries more applied gold than any major canvas had since medieval icons. Now at Belvedere, Vienna @belvederemuseum