El beso

This looks like a private moment, a couple caught kissing on a stone stair, but the date on it does a lot of work. Hayez painted it in 1859, the year Piedmont and France went to war with Austria to push the Austrians out of northern Italy. Under Austrian censorship you could not paint the cause openly, so Hayez hid it. The man's foot is already on the step as if he is about to leave, and there is a dagger under his cloak. The colours carry the message too. Her pale blue dress and his red hose set against the shadows echo the French flag, a nod to the alliance that had just brought France in on Italy's side. Audiences at the time read all of this. The lovers were the Italy people wanted, and the goodbye was the price of it.