La petite mort (the little death), a 19th century French phrase, originally meant le frisson, or the shiver. From there it became known as a euphemism for the orgasm, described as a momentary loss of self or a weakening of consciousness. It is the moment one’s heart metaphorically stops. A gasp of air.

A little death.

Philosophers and art historians have adopted the phrase to describe the experience of art— la petite mort as the moment one loses oneself in a good book, staring into a painting at a museum, or stumbling upon an old photo in an antique store that you just can’t shake. To experience a little death is to feel time stop, to be consumed by, and lost in a work of art.