In the spring of 1889, following his mental breakdown in Arles, which culminated with the infamous ear-cutting incident, Vincent van Gogh voluntarily committed himself to an asylum in nearby Saint-Remy. The doctor there diagnosed his mania and hallucinations as the result of a kind of epilepsy. Van Gogh, lucid by this time but feeling in need of a rest, settled in and did what he always did: He painted.
In fact, the restorative year he spent at Saint-Remy was remarkably productive. He painted the asylum's garden and the view from his bedroom window.
