Throwback to the Renaissance

Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30 1853 in Groot-Zundert. Van Gogh was born exactly one year after his parents first son, also called Vincent van Gogh, who was stillborn. Vincent from a young age would always be sad. He used to go on long walks to the cemetery to see his dead brother's headstone with his name and birthdate on it.

Due to Financial problems he was forced to leave school to work. In 1873 Van Gogh moved to work in a gallery in London. There, he was very interested in English culture and fell in love with his landlady's daughter, Eugenie Loyer but his marriage proposal was rejected. He then suffered from a major breakdown and devoted his life to God. He then taught in the Methodist boys school. Van Gogh refused to teach Latin as he called it the “dead language of the poor.”

In the fall of 1880 Van Gogh went to Brussels to become an artist. He was self-taught and offered support from his brother Theo. Van Gogh lived on coffee bread and absinthe and suffered from physical illness. His psychological health was also low. He was known to have sipes of turpentine and eaten paint.

He then moved to St. Paul de Mausole asylum. On July 27, 1890 Van Gogh went out to paint in the morning, with a loaded pistol. He shot himself in the chest but did not die and was found bleeding in his room. He was taken to the nearby hospital. He and his brother talked for days and eventually he died in his brother’s arms on July 29, 1890.