Provenance:
Collection Henri Lefebvre.
The collector acquired the work before 1937.

Literature:
Georges Grappe, catalogue du musée Rodin, Paris 1927. Page 59, No. 148. Illustration of a version in marble;
Albert E. Elsen, Rodin, New York 1963. Page 63. Illustration of another cast;
Ionel Jianou und Cécile Goldscheider, Rodin, Paris 1967. Page 100, panel 54 and 55. Illustration of a larger version in marble;
Robert Descharnes and Jean-François Chabrun, Auguste Rodin, Paris 1967, page 131. Illustration of a larger version in marble;
John L. Tancock, La sculpture d'Auguste Rodin, Philadelphia 1976. Page 77. Illustration of a larger version in marble. Letter from Musée Rodin, 4.11.1996

"Le baiser" was originally planned as the painting for the "La porte de l'enfer". There is a narrative by Dantes from "Inferno to the lovers" in "Le baiser", in which Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, the brother of her husband, consumed by desire, commit adultery. Dantes love stories about the forbidden liaisons relevant to the issue of love at royal dynasties were proven very popular by the readers of the late 19th century .