That fragmentation went against the growing nationalist sentiment for Italian unification and caused the creation of secret societies with democratic and radical orientations, such as the Carboneria and Young Italy.

The first war of Italian independence (1848) was a failure, but, by 1859, a secret agreement between Napoleon III and Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, stipulated the formation of an anti-Austrian alliance.

Mindful of the bloody repression of the nationalist movement, Hayez decided to disguise the ideals of conspiracy and the struggle against the invaders by a representation of past events.

The woman leans backwards while the man bends his left leg so as to support her and simultaneously places a foot on the step next to him as though poised to go at any moment.

[3] The geometric and perspective scheme of the painting is set on a series of diagonals that follows the course of the steps and converges to the vanishing point, placed to the left of the two lovers.

The brown of the cloak and the red of the boy's tights blend harmoniously with the light blue in the dress of the girl, and the neutral shades of the background help the couple stand out.

A light, coming from an external source placed to the left of the picture, hits the whole scene homogeneously: its reflections enhances the silky dress of the girl and emphasises the pavement and the bricks on the wall.

[4] Some art historians also suggest that one of the political meanings that the painting can carry is that a young Italian soldier, going off to fight for Italy against Austria and saying goodbye to his love kissing her for one last time.

[5] On a deeper level, the painting symbolizes the romantic, nationalist and patriotic ideals of Italian unification, an interpretation that is endorsed by several iconographic elements.

Other elements are the dagger hidden in the mantle, a sign of the imminent rebellion against the Habsburg invader and the date of the painting (1859, the year of the Second Italian War of Independence).