Rodin's 'The Kiss' is nation's favourite treasure

The British may be renowned for their stiff upper lip but in their choice of art they are exposed today as a nation of romantics.

A poll to find the nation's favourite masterpiece has made The Kiss, Rodin's sculpture of adulterous lovers, the runaway winner.

Velazquez's sensuous 17th-century nude, The Toilet of Venus, known as the "Rokeby Venus", came second, with one of Canaletto's views of the Italian city of Venice in third place.

Admittedly, the voters were not given the entire catalogue of world masterpieces to make their selection. The choice was from art works "bought by the people for the people"; that is, acquired for national museums and galleries with the support of the National Art Collections Fund (the Art Fund) charity, which relies on members' subscriptions for funds.

But having saved 750,000 gems during the past 100 years, from the Becket Casket - a 12th-century Limoges box made to house the remains of the martyr Thomas à Becket - to Monet's Poplars and Canova's The Three Graces, the fund decided to see which were the people's favourites.

One hundred of the Art Fund's most prestigious treasures were mounted on the website of Classic FM, which, with The Independent, is media partner for the fund's centenary exhibition, Saved! at the Hayward Gallery in London. More than 15,000 listeners voted.

David Barrie, the Art Fund's director, said: "Who said the British are reserved? I'm not a bit surprised that two of the most voluptuous works of art in the world should take first and second prize."

Constable is the top-ranking British artist at number four with his painting of the Vale of Dedham. And Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Canova, Degas, Renoir and Leonardo da Vinci all gain a place.

Perhaps the most striking inclusion is the Wilton Diptych, a work by an unknown artist of Richard II being presented to the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. It hangs in the National Gallery.

Rodin's winning work can be viewed at Tate Britain in London.