Researchers date van Gogh’s “starry night” to July 22
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Scientists in South Korea determined Vincent van Gogh likely painted his famous “The Starry Night” on July 22, 1889, while staying at a sanatorium in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France.
For years, art historians debated whether the painting depicted an imagined scene or a real night sky, and if real, when it was painted. Previous analysis, including work by astronomers in the 1980s, yielded no firm conclusions.
The researchers combined astronomical simulations with historical weather data and details from Van Gogh’s letters to his brother Theo. They found the positions of the stars, Venus, and the moon in the painting align with the sky as it would have appeared shortly before dawn on July 22.
The researchers also noted clear skies and warm temperatures, conditions consistent with Van Gogh’s mention of cicada sounds in his correspondence, and typical for the region of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in southern France at that time of year. Astronomer Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim, one of the study’s authors, stated that the painting clearly depicts the Hyades star cluster in the constellation Taurus. The new findings suggest Van Gogh based his iconic work on direct observation rather than pure imagination.
