Researchers link Van Gogh’s Starry Night to a July dawn

A new study suggests Vincent van Gogh based the celestial arrangement in “The Starry Night” on a real dawn sky observed in southern France, ERR reported.

Researchers from South Korea used astronomy software to compare the stars in the painting with the dawn sky. They focused on the positions and shapes of the stars, setting aside artistic elements such as brushstrokes and colours. The pattern at the centre of the painting most closely matches the Hyades star cluster in the constellation Taurus.

Art historians have generally dated the painting to mid-June 1889, drawing on van Gogh’s letters. But researchers noted that the Moon was nearly full then, unlike the thin waning crescent depicted in the painting. They say the crescent, Venus and the Hyades appeared in the arrangement shown in the painting in the early hours of July 22. An earlier sketch, they say, indicates that van Gogh was observing a specific, narrow section of the sky. The swirling forms in the painting were later artistic additions.

Not all experts agree. Representatives of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said the artist did not aim to reproduce the real world exactly, and that the painting’s date should not be determined by matching celestial objects. They also noted that van Gogh suffered a severe mental crisis around July 22 that left him unable to work for weeks.

The study was published in Scientific Reports.