In Front | Van Gogh and the New Testament

Van Gogh was certainly a troubled soul in periods of his life. However, Van Gogh was an avid student of the Bible in his early years. He transcribed long passages in various languages and remarked to his roommate, “The Bible is my solace, my support in life.”

But during most of his painting career Van Gogh avoided biblical subjects as his faith dwindled. He believed that there was no point; artists like Rembrandt and others had painted biblical scenes so well there was nothing more to add. Nonetheless, later in his career, Van Gogh’s took on biblical subjects. 

Three notable examples are directly linked to the New Testament: The Good Samaritan (1890), Pietà (1889) and The Raising of Lazarus (1890). All three were produced in roughly the last year of his life.

References: Steven W. Naifeh, et al., Van Gogh: The Life, p. 146; Siraar van Heugten, et. al., Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night, 2009, pp. 20-21. 

Van Gogh painted less explicitly biblical subjects too. Dr. Judy Sund, a Van Gogh scholar, believes that the painter was especially drawn to Jesus’ parables. She attributes his series of “Wheat Fields” paintings to a fascination with the Parable of the Sower. 

Sund writes of Van Gogh’s love of parables:

One of the things he loved about the parables is how a description of a contemporary reality can then have an underlying metaphorical meaning. He liked the idea that real-world motifs can contain within them allusions to bigger ideas and the divine.

Source: http://www.toledoblade.com/Religion/2003/04/12/Van-Gogh-wanted-his-art-to-sow-God-s-word.html