This painting by Hayez, inspired by the popular Shakespearean tragedy and commissioned by one of the most famous collectors of the time, Giovanni Battista Sommariva, was exhibited in Brera in 1823.

Francesco Hayez
Romeo's Last Kiss to Juliet, 1823
oil on canvas, 291×201.8 cm

The theme was taken up again by Hayez later in three other paintings, in 1825 and twice in 1830, until its transposition, starting in 1859, in the popular Kiss series.

Everyone admired different elements, such as the evocative and faithful reconstruction of a medieval interior, a sensuality reminiscent of Titian's painting, or the sumptuous rendering of the costumes, such as the "maiden's dress, whose sheen imitates the finest French velvet." It was the leading figure of Romantic criticism, Defendente Sacchi, who saw it as a sort of manifesto, given that "his Juliet is certainly not Venus, and she is not the ancient woman; she is beautiful, but the beauty of his love," while "Romeo is not Antinous, nor Apollo, yet he is longingly regarded by feminine curiosity and announces to you the flower of the brave and of lovers." But it was the Milan correspondent of the German art magazine "Kunst-Blatt," the authoritative Ludwig Schorn, who opened the debate, being struck by the work at the exhibition and denouncing the excessive truthfulness of that "kiss" which "is not the tender love of a pure, enchanted soul," but "is voluptuous."