The First Kiss
Title
The First Kiss
Alt Text Description
Grayscale illustration of a man and a woman in Renaissance attire leaning in for a kiss.
Description
In Bardo’s house, Tito and Romola lean together in a doorway and share their first kiss. The image captures the exact “faces just met” moment that seals their happiness, even as Tito’s hidden past threatens what this tenderness promises.
"'I do love you,’ murmured Romola; she looked at him with the same simple majesty as ever, but her voice had never in her life before sunk to that murmur. It seemed to them both that they were looking at each other a long while before her lips moved again; yet it was but a moment till she said, ‘I know now what it is to be happy.’ The faces just met, and the dark curls mingled for an instant with the rippling gold" ("The Prize Is Nearly Grasped", Chapter 12).
"'I do love you,’ murmured Romola; she looked at him with the same simple majesty as ever, but her voice had never in her life before sunk to that murmur. It seemed to them both that they were looking at each other a long while before her lips moved again; yet it was but a moment till she said, ‘I know now what it is to be happy.’ The faces just met, and the dark curls mingled for an instant with the rippling gold" ("The Prize Is Nearly Grasped", Chapter 12).
Illustrator
Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896)
Contributor
Swain, Joseph (1820-1909), engraver
Publisher
George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org
Date
1863, 1880
Rights
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Work Illustrated
Romola
Citation
Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896), The First Kiss, George Eliot Illustrations Gallery, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/83650
Illustration
