Vincent in Saint-Rémy
(1889)

In May 1889 Vincent wrote to his brother Theo, "Yesterday I drew a very large, rather rare night moth there which is called the death’s head, its coloration astonishingly distinguished: black, grey, white, shaded, and with glints of carmine or vaguely tending towards olive green; it’s very big. To paint it I would have had to kill it, and that would have been a shame since the animal was so beautiful."

Later he decided to paint the moth after all, using his drawing as a model. Van Gogh called it a 'death's-head moth' and depicted a kind of skull on the back of its body. It was actually a giant peacock moth, however – a species that has only stripes there.

https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/s0189V1962

Grote nachtpauwoog (Great Peacock Moth) 


May, 1889
Oil on canvas
33.5 x 24.5 cm. 


Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/s0189V1962

 

sketch from the letter to his brother.