Skeleton with Burning Cigarette | Vincent van Gogh | 1886 17th Century framing a luminous crescent moon

framing a luminous crescent moon suspended in a vast sky

The skeletal figure reminds viewers that no rank

with bowed heads and slumped shoulders

who had used fraud to claim another man's inheritance

damned souls are entombed beneath the frozen surface

Skeleton with Burning Cigarette | Vincent van Gogh | 1886 17th Century framing a luminous crescent moonSkull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette is an early work by Vincent van Gogh. The small and undated oil on canvas painting featuring a skeleton and cigarette is part of the permanent collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. It was most likely painted in the winter of 188586 as a satirical comment on conservative academic practices. Before it was common to use live humans as models, the academic routine included the study of skeletons to