This oil-on-canvas created by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt has become his most popular work. The painting depicts a couple embracing each other, their bodies entwined in elaborate beautiful robes decorated in a style influenced by the contemporary Art Nouveau style. It was first exhibited under the title Liebespaar (The Lovers).

Besides paint, Klimt used gold leaves, silver and platinum in this work. He was inspired to use gold leaves after visiting Italian churches in which he saw Byzantine mosaics.

Klimt himself may be the man in painting, however this has not ever been proven. If it is in fact Klimt, this would be the artist’s only known self-portrait.