Vincent van Gogh may have painted The Starry Night from life after all. A study published in Scientific Reports argues that the painting records the real pre-dawn sky over Saint-Rémy-de-Provence on 22 July 1889, Science News reports.
Astronomer Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim and colleagues used shape-matching analysis to link the painted stars to the Hyades star cluster in Taurus, and checked the waning crescent Moon and the position of Venus against computer simulations of the sky. Kim had visited Saint-Rémy in 2019 to work out the view from van Gogh’s window at the asylum where he was staying. An earlier suggested date in June is ruled out because the Moon was in the wrong phase.
Not everyone is convinced: astronomer Donald Olson of Texas State University questions the field of view the team assumed. But the work adds a fresh layer to one of the world’s best-loved paintings.
Source: Science News