Painted in 1889, Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night depicts the view from the artist’s asylum window in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. For years, art historians believed the iconic painting was inspired by a June night, based on a letter van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo describing “a new study of a starry sky.” Now, however, astronomers in South Korea suggest the artist captured a different celestial scene about a month later. By mapping the night sky in the painting, they believe they’ve pinpointed the exact date that may have inspired the masterpiece: July 22, 1889.
The researchers recently published their findings in a report, arguing that van Gogh based the painting on a real night sky, rather than from his imagination. They carried out a series of astronomical analyses to match the star patterns in The Starry Night with the night sky van Gogh could have seen from Saint-Rémy in the summer of 1889. Researchers used astronomy software to recreate the night sky each evening in June and July 1889, then compared the positions of the stars, crescent moon, and Venus with the celestial features in the famous painting.
While earlier studies identified Aries as the main constellation in The Starry Night, the researchers found that the stars in the painting more closely resemble the Hyades, a V-shaped cluster in the Taurus constellation. They believe July 22, 1889, best matches the scene, with the crescent moon above Venus and the Hyades fitting within the composition. Plus, weather records at the time suggest the sky was clear enough for van Gogh to see the stars that night.
The researchers hope to apply the same techniques to other van Gogh paintings featuring night skies, including Café Terrace at Night, which they believe may depict the Summer Triangle. “I hope this work prompts a renewed, multidisciplinary look at the sequence and working methods of the Saint-Rémy paintings,” said Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim, one of the report’s authors, CEO of SLLAB, and a doctoral candidate at Kyung Hee University. “Our conversation with van Gogh’s other skies is still ongoing. We plan to tell those stories one by one.”
Read the full report in the journal Scientific Reports.
Astronomers believe they may have discovered the exact night sky that inspired Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night—July 22, 1889.
Source: The actual sky of Van Gogh’s Starry Night: a multidisciplinary reconstruction
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