The painting was done from memory during the day. It is somewhat whimsical, showing his view from the sanatorium he committed himself to in May of 1889. Please consider the following quote from Van Gogh:
"The imagination is certainly a faculty that we must develop and it alone can bring us to a more exulting and consoling nature. The star-spangled sky, for instance, is a thing that i would like to do. But how can I manage, unless I make my mind up to work from imagination?"
In the scene is the village of Saint Rémy. The Alpilles rise to the right. The cypress tree and hills were not really in the same view; Vincent added those from nearby scenes. The same tree (or at least very similar tree) can be seen in "Wheatfield with Cypresses":
A debate exists as to whether or not Van Gogh painted this in a literal or literary way:
1) Literal - he either painted it as he saw it, or as a hallucinatory genius. Astronomers agree that given that it was painted in June, the largest star is the morning star but cannot agree whether or not the constellations shown are Cygnus or Aries.
2) Literary - some believe that he may have drawn his inspiration for this painting from the work of Walk Whitman or Victor Hugo, or perhaps from the Bible (Christ in Gethsemane, Joseph's dream in Genesis, or even Revelations).
Whatever the inspiration, it is one of the most recognizable pieces in art history!
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