One of the artist’s most celebrated sculptures, examples of which in several materials and sizes can be found at Bory Castle. Versions in marble, pyrobasalt, ceramic and plaster are displayed in the Chapel of Marital Love and the Studio at Bory Castle. The two marble versions in the chapel are arranged as though cut in two, allowing the artist to show the kissing scene from both sides.
The Kiss is among Bory Jenő’s best-known and most frequently reworked compositions. The work captures a simple yet timeless moment of human love and belonging. It occupies a special place in the artist’s oeuvre, for the subject engaged him over several decades, leading him to create numerous versions in different materials. Examples in marble, pyrobasalt, ceramic and plaster can all be found at Bory Castle.
The finest versions of the work can be seen in the Chapel of Marital Love. The two marble sculptures employ a particularly intriguing solution: they appear to present the same scene to the viewer from two sides. The composition can thus be viewed not merely from a single vantage point, but makes the intimate moment of the kiss almost possible to walk around. Together, the two sculptures fit closely with the chapel’s underlying message, which commemorates Bory Jenő’s love for his wife, Ilona Komócsin.
The sculpture’s history reaches back to 1906, when Bory first treated the subject. He returned to it later, in the 1930s, also carving it in marble for the Chapel of Marital Love. This demonstrates that for the artist, love and marital fidelity were not the subject of a single sculptural commission, but a creative theme to which he returned throughout his life.