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An old man sits on a chair by the fire, bent forward, his face hidden in his clenched fists. Van Gogh painted At Eternity's Gate, also called Sorrowing Old Man, in May 1890 in Saint-Rémy, a few weeks before he left the asylum and two months before his death.
In this article
A subject from the past
In 1882, in The Hague, Vincent van Gogh made drawings and a lithograph of an old man, a pensioner from an almshouse named Adrianus Jacobus Zuyderland, sitting with his head in his hands. He titled the lithograph At Eternity's Gate. In a letter to Theo, he wrote that such images expressed what he felt was one of the strongest proofs of the existence of God and eternity: the inexpressibly moving sight of an old man, sitting quietly by the fire.
Eight years later, in May 1890, at the asylum of Saint-Rémy, recovering from a severe crisis, Van Gogh returned to the subject and painted it in oil, from his earlier work. It was one of the last paintings he made there.
The old man
The old man sits on a wooden chair, bent forward, his elbows on his knees and his clenched fists pressed against his face. His bald head is bowed. He wears a blue suit, painted in the long, flowing strokes of Van Gogh's late style. His grief seems total, yet Van Gogh saw in such a figure a sign of hope in eternity.
Detail 1
Head in his hands
The old man hides his face in his clenched fists, his bald head bowed in grief.
The fire
On the left, a small fire burns in the hearth, painted in reds and oranges. It is the only warm note in a cool palette of blues and yellows, a small source of comfort beside the sorrowing man.
Detail 2The fire in the hearth
A small fire flickers on the left, the only warmth in the cool room.
The chair and the floor
The rush-seated chair and the bare wooden floor are painted with long, directional strokes that give the scene its rhythm. The simple setting recalls Van Gogh's famous paintings of his own chair.
Detail 3The rush chair
The simple rush-seated chair, painted in yellow, recalls Van Gogh's paintings of his own chair in Arles.
The worn shoes
The old man's heavy boots rest on the floor, worn and solid, a reminder of a life of work and poverty. Van Gogh had painted worn shoes several times, as symbols of hardship and of the journey of life.
Detail 4Heavy worn boots
The old man's boots, worn and heavy, speak of a life of labour, a motif Van Gogh painted many times.
Faith and suffering in Van Gogh's art
Van Gogh had once wanted to become a preacher. In his twenties he studied theology and worked as an evangelist among coal miners in the Borinage in Belgium, before turning to art. Although he later distanced himself from organised religion, his letters show a deep spiritual search, and he often wrote about God, eternity and the consolation of art. At Eternity's Gate expresses this search with great simplicity: an old man's grief, which Van Gogh saw not as despair but as a sign of something beyond this life. Painted at a time of great personal suffering, shortly before his death, the painting has become one of the most moving images of human sorrow in his work.
Seeing the painting
The painting measures about 81 by 65 centimetres. It is in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, the Netherlands.
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Why is it called At Eternity's Gate?
Van Gogh used the title for his 1882 lithograph of the subject, seeing in the old man's sorrow a proof of the existence of God and eternity.
When did Van Gogh paint At Eternity's Gate?
He painted it in May 1890 at the asylum of Saint-Rémy, based on his earlier lithograph.
Who was the model?
The original model in 1882 was Adrianus Jacobus Zuyderland, an elderly pensioner in The Hague.
Where is At Eternity's Gate?
It is in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, the Netherlands.
Sources and further reading
- Kröller-Müller Museum, collection notes on Sorrowing Old Man (At Eternity's Gate)
- Vincent van Gogh, letter to Theo van Gogh, November 1882
- Van Gogh Museum letters edition
