The Kiss of Betrayal

"Kiss of Judas", 1304-06, Giotto, Fresco (detail) Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy

“Kiss of Judas” Fresco (detail), 1304-06
Giotto di Bondone

This magnificent fresco portraying the betrayal of Jesus, was painted by Giotto over 700 years ago in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy.

Giotto portrays Judas thick browed, eyes deep set and dark, almost Neolithic.

Christ’s face is alive: living, breathing, grieving, hurting.  Yet we see Christ’s forgiveness and sorrow for Judas and the enormity of his deed…the Judas kiss, the kiss of betrayal.
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The Maternal Kiss

Sleepy Baby, 1910 Mary Cassatt Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas

Sleepy Baby, 1910
Mary Cassatt
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas

Whoa! This is not just another sentimental, sugar sweet painting of mother and child! Ponder this painting for a moment:  Mother and child share a deep and common love. There is a passion there, a bliss, an ecstasy. The mother and child are physically and intensely wrapped up in each other…almost like the feeling of being “in love.”

It was astonishing that Mary Cassatt (1849-1926), could capture these images as she herself eschewed marriage and a family of her own.
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The Kiss of Passion

"From Here to Eternity" Lancaster and Kerr in the beach scene at Halona Cove, Oahu, Hawaii.

From Here to Eternity
Lancaster and Kerr in the beach scene at Halona Cove, Oahu, Hawaii

The greatest beach-kiss scene in film was made in 1953 in a tiny cove on Oahu, in the Hawaiian Islands. The film was adapted from James Jones’ excellent novel, “From Here to Eternity.”

Take a look at this video and you will see why Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr made movie history! Click here if you are unable to view the video.

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