The ecstasy of love. A man and a woman that become one with each other and with the universe, abandoning themselves to each other.
If it is almost certain that the male protagonist is Klimt himself, the female one remains uncertain. The most reliable possibilities are his companion Emilie Flöge, Red Hilda, the artist's favourite model or an unknown young girl.
Part of Klimt's Golden Age and the Viennese secessionist movement (the Austrian art nouveau) Der Kuss is an iconic work, known throughout the world, revived in all sorts of gadgets and parodied by many.