One of my favourite ways to spend an afternoon is to visit an art gallery. Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to visit some of the biggest art galleries and museums in the world, like the Louvre in Paris and the Tate galleries in London, but I love to visit small galleries too; one of my favourites is the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice, near my home in France, which has a beautiful Rodin sculpture.

For me, art is deeply inspirational, and of course because I write romances, I am particularly drawn to romantic artworks. Today, I am sharing with you some of my favourite works of art on the theme of love. I hope they will inspire you too.

Springtime by Pierre Auguste Cot (1873)

This depiction of a young couple was so popular at the Paris Salon at which it was first exhibited that a second in the series was commissioned. Entitled The Storm, it shows a similar couple running through the rain using a blanket as a makeshift umbrella. Both of these paintings by Cot have endured for their stirring of first love, exuberant and hopeful.

In the Garden by Pierre Auguste Renoir (1885)

Renoir painted several love scenes, but this is my favourite. I love the intent focus of the man’s face and how he is holding her around the waist and by the hand; his love is evident. Is the woman as interested? One would hope so, because when painting romantic couples Renoir always used as his subject for the female a woman he loved in real life.

The Kiss by Auguste Rodin (1882)

This passionate sculpture was inspired by Dante’s Inferno, specifically a pair of lovers who met a tragic end. The woman, Francesca, was married, and the man, Paolo, was her husband’s brother. The pair are depicted on the cusp of kissing, but their lips do not quite meet, to symbolise the end of the tale: the betrayed husband found the couple and murdered them. This marble sculpture was somewhat controversial when it was unveiled, for its sensuality, and it wasn’t until the turn of the century that The Kiss and the copies of it that Rodin made began to be displayed for the public in museums. It is a version of The Kiss that draws me to the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice.

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt (1907)

The rich colours of this artwork – painted during Klimt’s Golden Period – together with the beautiful intimacy captured in oils and gold leaf has made this his most popular work. The lovers are fused in a symbolic way, and the passion between them is so tangible that when the painting was first exhibited there were complaints that it was pornographic, though the subjects are fully clothed. For me, this is such a joyful painting.

The Kiss by Francesco Hayez (1859)

Hayez deliberately left the identities of his subjects in this painting undetermined, so that the focal point of the entire piece is the kiss. And what a kiss – so tender and so passionate. This is a perfect example of Romanticism, with deep emotion, rather than logical thought, driving the meaning. There’s a sense of danger and threat here too, with the shadows, and we get the sense that this is a farewell kiss – the man is dressed to travel and is poised for movement, and the lady is clinging to him.

Romeo and Juliet by Sir Frank Dicksee (1884)

“Farewell, farewell! one kiss and I’ll descend,” said Romeo at the end of the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet, and here is that moment captured so perfectly. It is easy to see here how deeply Romeo and Juliet love each other, but the painting evokes feelings of sadness, too, for we know that these star-crossed lovers will not have a long and happy life together. In 2012 this painting, which is displayed in Southampton City Art Gallery, UK, was voted the most romantic work of art in Britain (followed by a copy of Rodin’s The Kiss at the Turner Contemporary in Margate, Kent).

Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss, Antonio Canova, 1793

I have saved my favourite for last. Here is Cupid, the Roman god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection, waking his love, Psyche, with a kiss. Psyche had fallen into the Sleep of the Innermost Darkness after being tricked into opening a jar by the goddess Venus, and Cupid, her lover, brings her back to life with a kiss. (Here, I share the full story of Cupid and Psyche.) Canova captures the pivotal moment, and all the emotion it carries, in exquisite detail. The Louvre website offers pictures of the statue from different angles, revealing all the detail and mastery in this enduring artwork.