Essay about Van Gogh Starry Night

“The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands” Psalm 19.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, my name is E. H. and I am here today in order to present and attempt to persuade you to see why I believe that “starry night” by Vincent Van Gogh shows aspects of goodness, beauty, and truth.

I believe that this incredible piece shows goodness, the definition of goodness is “the quality of being morally good or virtuous” starry night does not only show goodness by being objectively good and visually pleasing, but the message of starry night has been Interpreted as showing religious virtues Based on Vincent Van Gogh's religious background and in a personal letter van gogh stated; “a great starlit vault of heaven… one can only call God”, the bright lights of the stars provide an incredible light over the city that conveys strong emotions and an intense feeling of hope. Starry night by Vincent van Gogh could be seen through a religious lens. Genesis 37:9; “Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me”. Van Gogh painted exactly eleven stars in Starry Night.

I believe that starry night shows beauty, I have two definitions for beauty because I truly believe that both apply to Vincent Van Gogh's masterpiece, beauty “a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight” beauty is also defined as “a combination of qualities that pleases the intellect or moral sense.” This piece created by Vincent Van Gogh while being amusing to the eye it is also satisfying to the soul. Visual beauty is eminent in starry night, the swirling dark colors of the star abundant sky, along with the village where comforting warm lights comes through the windows, the main colors of starry night are deep blues and vibrant yellow orange, blue and orange are complimentary colors that therefore enhance the painting captivating any viewer. The beauty goes much deeper than the surface, van Gogh painted this work of art whilst struggling with his mental health, the painting is of the view outside of his asylum window where he stated “I don't know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream.” Starry night is beautiful because it represents unsureness, unknowing, uncertainty, but also hope, faith, and comfort which i believe is truly beautiful.

And finally i believe that “starry night” shows truth, truth is defined as “that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.” Truth is prominent in Starry Night, some examples of this truth include mathmatic, scientific, and biblical truth, mathematical truth is found in his interpretation of the almost impossible to understand idea of “turbulent flow” in Fluid dynamics, vincent van gogh was able to capture something strikingly real about how light moves, it wasn't until 60 years later when the mathematics behind turbulence flow became more understood, the scientific truth within starry night stems from astronomy, during the time frame of its creation the planet venus would have been visible and would have been brighter than the rest of the stars in the sky, now if you observe the painting there is clearly a star brighter than the rest. And finally biblical truth,

Isaiah 40:26

Lift up your eyes on high

And see who has created these stars,

The One who leads forth their host by number,

He calls them all by name;

Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,

Not one of them is missing.

Vincent Van Gogh captured stars in a way truly inspired by God,Vincent strongly believed that art had the unique potential to move, to stir, to impassion people with the love of God.

In conclusion I believe that I have  shown how “starry night” by Vincent Van Gogh illistraits goodness, beauty, and truth. Thank you for your time.