The Starry Night

What you see

A dark cypress, shaped like a flame, rises on the left and nearly touches the top edge. Down on the right, a small village nestles among hills, with lit windows and a church with a pointed spire. Above, everything moves: a great spiral sweeps across the center, ringed by eleven haloed stars and a crescent moon. The eye climbs the cypress and drifts down to the village.

Blue dominates, from cobalt to turquoise, set against the yellows and whites of the stars. The brushstrokes are short, thick and curved, as if combed by the wind. Notice the tiny yellow windows in the village, echoing the light above on a small scale, and the pale band rolling over the hills.