The mystery painting is, of course, Van Gogh's Starry Night.
Starry Night finds it's home at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in NYC. It is not a pretentious painting, but it carries an emotional wallop. In Starry Night we see the restless heavens, blazing stars, glowing, churning skies full of roiling energy and a crescent moon--all of it anchored by a tall church steeple reigning over the smaller buildings of a country village. The warm light coming from the windows of the homes gives us a feeling of peace, security and well being. Van Gogh did not paint this scene from real life--he drew on his memories, feelings and imagination to create a powerful statement about his chaotic world and his hope for inner peace. Each of us can see not only what he felt, but can create meaning from his work that applies to our own lives as well. When I look at this painting, I see the awesome power of God in the heavens, I see his hand protecting and caring for us, and I see the church providing peace, security, and stability.
Even Van Gogh's pen and ink sketches show his distinctive pen strokes. This is a study he did of Starry Night before he tackled the painting.
And here is another night sky he did. This one actually contains some human figures at the very bottom.
And of course, as with most famous paintings, Starry Night has been captured in many other media as well. Here are my two favorites:
This is a [photomosaic], if you zoom in on sections of it, you will find that it is composed of hundreds of photos from nature.
Lego Starry [Night]! Just too cool!
And finally, a [gallery] of Van Gogh paintings set to Don McLean's Starry, Starry Night (not one of my favorite songs, but nice with the paintings).