大孔雀蛾

Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), 普罗旺斯的圣雷米, 1889年5月-6月

布面油画, 33.5 cm
Credits: 凡高美术馆，阿姆斯特丹（文森特·凡高基金会）

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.