New research suggests that Vincent Van Gogh cut off his entire ear rather than part of it – as has often been claimed.
Some sketches drawn by Doctor Felix Rey – who treated Van Gogh’s injury in 1888 – depict the impressionist master’s ear before and after the self-inflicted damage.
The drawings were discovered by Bernadette Murphy, among papers owned by Irving Stone, who had been in touch with Doctor Rey in 1930.
Murphy’s findings are published in her new book Van Gogh’s Ear: The True Story – which coincidentally is on the scene in time for the opening of a new exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam titled On The Verge of Insanity – which focuses on the artist’s mental illness.