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Primary sourcePainting1885

Still Life with Bible

Vincent van Gogh · 1885

A painting by Van Gogh showing his father's open Bible beside a novel by Émile Zola, made after his father's death in 1885.

Painted by Van Gogh after his father's death, expressing his break with the family's religious faith.

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Oil painting of an open large Bible on a table with dark background, a lit candle in a brass candlestick at right, and a small yellow book titled Le Lettre de Victor Hugo? in the lower right; brushy, textured strokes.
Vincent van Gogh, Still Life with Bible, 1885. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

About this source

What it is

An oil painting by Vincent van Gogh, made in 1885 and held at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It shows a large open Bible, a lit candle, and a small yellow novel on a dark table.

Why it matters

Painted after the death of his father, a minister, the work sets the family Bible against a novel by Émile Zola, La Joie de vivre. The contrast between the heavy religious book and the modern novel expresses Van Gogh's break with his family's religious faith.

Look closer

  • Why might Van Gogh have placed these two very different books side by side?
  • What does the candle add to the mood of the scene?
  • What might this painting tell us about Van Gogh's feelings toward his father?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Vincent van Gogh on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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