Kiss of Victory 1878 - 1881

Sir Alfred Gilbert sculpted "Kiss of Victory" out of marble sometime between 1878 and 1881. The angel represents victory, as she carries the body of a fallen soldier. It seems to speak of the futility of war. Gilbert was an important figure in the New Sculpture movement in Britain. This took inspiration from the continental Symbolist movement and the aesthetic movement. The aim was to go beyond the limits of academic realism, giving new importance to allegory, symbolism, and mood. Here, the image of the winged figure is suggestive of classical sculpture, but equally, it could be seen as an embrace between the figures of death and the dying soldier. As art historians, we need to look at the Victorian and Edwardian periods to understand the context in which this sculpture was made. Resources, such as critical reviews, exhibition catalogs, and personal papers, all provide clues to its meaning. Art is never created in a vacuum.