Hand-kissing
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Hand-kissing is a ritual of greeting and respect. Image:Merkel and chirac.jpg It is initiated by the person receiving the greeting by holding out her/his hand with the palm facing downward. The person kissing bows towards the offered hand and (symbolically) touches the knuckles with his lips, while lightly holding the offered hand. Note that the lips will not actually touch the hand in modern tradition. The gesture is short, lasting less than a second.
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Modern usage
The hand-kiss is offered by a woman to a man (the man kissing the hand). It is a gesture of extreme politeness where the lady offering it is expected to be of same or higher social status than the gentleman executing it. It is considered impolite to refuse an offered hand-kiss. Hand-kissing has become rare and is mostly restricted to conservative upper class or diplomats. It has largely disappeared as a common greeting habit in Europe, although it can still be observed in Central Europe, especially Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.
In the Roman Catholic Church, a Catholic meeting the Pope or less often a Cardinal, or even a lower-ranking prelate, will kiss the ring on his hand. Again this has become uncommon in circles not used to formal protocol, even often dispensed with amongst clergy. However it is still more common in the more demonstrative mediterranean cultures, especially the Italian baciamano. The scene can look quite abject when the devout kisser combines it with a genuflection as an even stronger expression of fial respect for the clerically high-ranking father, he may then in a fatherly way lay his other hand on the kisser's head or even bless him/her by a manual cross sign.
History
The gesture was common in European upper class throughout the 18th and 19th century. It started to disappear in the 20th century. It is very uncommon today. In its modern form, a man kissing the hand of a woman, the hand-kiss originated in the Spanish court ceremonies of the 17th/18th century and became common practice in European upper class in the 18th and 19th century. The gesture probably originated as a formal submission or plead of allegiance of man to man. The man would show his submission by kissing the signet ring (a form of seal worn as a jewelry ring), the symbol of authority of the dominant person.
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