Vincent Van Gogh painted the starry night motif several times: over the Rhône, above a café terrace...

In a letter to his sister in September 1888, he wrote: "Often, it seems to me that the night is even more richly coloured than the day".

Indeed, look at this cameo of blue, this crescent moon that shines as brightly as the sun, this very rare yellow that is Indian yellow (originally from India, where it was obtained from the urine of cows, whose brilliant yellow colour was due to the fact that they fed on mango leaves).

But whereas the other starry nights are imbued with serenity, this one seems very tormented, as evidenced by the cypress tree in the shape of a flame, but above all by the swirls in the sky that give the canvas a strong dynamism.

Van Gogh painted this picture in 1889 in the asylum where he was confined for his mental disorders. From his window, he could observe the village of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, which he depicts here. A year later, the artist took his own life. This tormented night reflects his inner turmoil.

However, astrophysicist Jean-Pierre Luminet believes that the painting may have been inspired by the first depictions in astronomy magazines of nebulae that had just been discovered to be spiral galaxies.