Study pinpoints art’s greatest night

By the Editorial Team · Friday, October 23, 2026

Researchers have identified July 22, 1889, as the likely date of the celestial configuration depicted in Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night by matching star patterns with astronomical data and historical weather records. This revised dating challenges previous mid-June assumptions and provides a more accurate understanding of the night sky that inspired Van Gogh during his stay at the Saint-Rémy asylum.

A recent study has proposed a new date for the celestial scene depicted in Vincent van Gogh’s iconic painting, The Starry Night. By analyzing the arrangement of stars and planets in the 1889 post-impressionist work, researchers suggest that the Dutch artist’s inspiration corresponds to the pre-dawn sky of July 22, 1889, rather than the previously thought mid-June.

The painting features a swirling night sky above cypress trees and village spires, and includes elements that appear to represent a waning crescent moon, the planet Venus, and the Hyades star cluster in the Taurus constellation. Van Gogh was staying at an asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, southern France, at the time and is believed to have drawn inspiration from the view outside the east window of his room. He admitted himself to the former monastery in May 1889 following a mental breakdown and the infamous incident of severing part of his own ear.

To determine the date of the celestial configuration, researchers from South Korea’s technology company SLLAB and Kyung Hee University employed a method known as Procrustes fitting, which compares shapes by rotating and scaling them to assess alignment. This technique allowed the team to match the V-shaped formation of the Hyades cluster with key stars in the painting. Additionally, historical weather records indicate clear skies around late July, supporting the possibility that Van Gogh observed the exact night sky on July 22.

The new date challenges previous assumptions with some historians favoring mid-June, when Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo about beginning “a new study of a starry sky.” However, the artist ceased correspondence after July 16, likely due to another mental health episode, leading scholars to believe his work temporarily halted at that time. Earlier astronomical interpretations based on a June date faced inconsistencies, notably that the moon would have appeared fuller in the sky than in the painting.

The researchers emphasize that while their findings indicate the specific celestial alignment could have been observed on July 22, it is unclear when Van Gogh actually commenced or completed The Starry Night. It remains possible that the observations informing the painting’s night sky were made during a brief window around this date, even if the artwork itself began earlier.

The study also applied the same analysis method to another Van Gogh celestial painting, Café Terrace at Night, dating from 1888. Their findings suggest it depicts the “Summer Triangle,” an asterism consisting of the stars Vega, Altair, and Deneb.

Overall, the research offers new insight into the interplay between Van Gogh’s artistic vision and the astronomical realities of his environment, while acknowledging ongoing uncertainties about the exact timeline of his work.

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