A team of South Korean researchers has identified the precise celestial arrangement that inspired Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night, resolving a long-standing debate over the painting’s origins. The study, published in Scientific Reports, concludes that the swirling sky depicted in the masterpiece matches the night sky over Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, just before dawn on July 22, 1889.
The researchers, led by Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim, CEO of a Seoul-based telescope manufacturer and doctoral candidate at Kyung Hee University, used forensic astronomy to match the painting’s features—including a waning crescent moon, the planet Venus, and the Hyades star cluster—to their positions in the sky on that date. Kim stated in an email that the alignment was so exact that it could not be coincidental. “No two skies are the same. Something always changes. I believe Vincent noticed those changes and put them into the painting,” he said. The team also noted that the few days surrounding July 22 could have similarly inspired the artist.
The findings challenge the traditional dating of The Starry Night to June 1889, shortly after van Gogh admitted himself to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Art historians have long relied on a letter van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo, around June 18, 1889, as the primary evidence for the painting’s creation date. However, the new study argues that the moon’s phase in the painting—a thin crescent—does not align with the waning gibbous moon visible in early June 1889. Instead, the waning crescent moon depicted in the artwork matches the sky on July 22.
The painting, created during van Gogh’s stay at the asylum, has been the subject of extensive speculation regarding its possible symbolic meanings. Van Gogh had committed himself to the asylum in May 1889 after a mental breakdown that included the infamous incident of cutting off part of his left ear. The asylum’s window, which overlooked the night sky, has long been considered a likely source of inspiration for the painting’s dramatic celestial scene.
The study’s authors emphasize that while July 22 is the most probable date, the days immediately before and after could have also influenced van Gogh’s work. Kim expressed confidence in the date, stating, “I am confident that July 22 is the better date. I will bet on this date.” The research team’s findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports on June 13, 2024.
The debate over The Starry Night’s origins has persisted for decades, with some art historians arguing that the painting was a product of van Gogh’s imagination rather than a direct representation of reality. The new study, however, provides a definitive celestial match, offering a rare glimpse into the artist’s creative process during one of the most turbulent periods of his life.