◧ Artist: Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806)
◧ Country: France
◧ Title: [The Stolen Kiss]
◧ Medium: Oil painting
◧ Painting Size: 45 × 55 cm (18" × 22")
◧ Museum: Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
◧ Country of Stamp Issue: Russia
◧ Date of Issue: Nov 20, 1984
◧ Face Value: 10 Kopecks
◧ Issued as Hermitage Museum Arts series
◧ Country of Stamp Issue: Russia
◧ Date of Issue: Nov 20, 1984
◧ Face Value: 10 Kopecks
◧ Issued as Hermitage Museum Arts series
Later in 1790s, [The Stolen Kiss], representing the style of French Rococo Period, was purchased by Stanisław August Poniatowski, who was King of Poland from 1764 to 1795 and the painting was at Lazienki Palace in Warsaw. The Polish king was known to value [The Stolen Kiss] highly and even wanted to take it from Warsaw to Saint Petersburg upon his abdication in 1795; however, the painting remained in the Lazienki Palace, Warsaw until 1895, when it was acquired by Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, then moved to the Hermitage Museum.
After Polish independence of 1918 and again at the end of World War II in 1945, the Polish government made diplomatic efforts to recover [The Stolen Kiss] from then-Soviet Union, but the Soviet government refused and later compensated Polish goverment with other "lesser valued" paintings instead.
[The Stolen Kiss] was the painting wanted by both King of Poland and Emperor of Russia.
