Van Gogh/Starry Night

Vincent Van Gogh, The Stary Night 1889 When Vincent van Gogh was a patient in an asylum at Saint-Remy in the south of France, he wrote to his brother Theo. "This morning I saw the country from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big". The morning star is another ma,e fpr Venus, and it may be the large white pulsating form, just to the left …

…of color-it is a field of energy, as well. The contrast between the chaos of the heavens and the quiet order of the village below is remarkable. The cyprus tree-known as the tree of death for its traditional associations with graveyards and mourning-creates a flamelike connection between the earth and the sky. But for Van Gogh, a man of strong Chrstian faith, death was not ominoius, it was the path to heaven. He himself said.