Vincent Van Gogh’s ear wasn’t cut off in an act of self-mutilation, but severed by rival artist Paul Gauguin in a fight, a German art historian reveals.
Rita Wildegans said that after an analysis of records and letters, she has concluded that Gauguin sliced off Van Gogh’s ear in 1888 following an alcohol-fueled dispute, London’s News of the World reports.
Wildegans said the men got into an argument and that’s when Gauguin, a skilled swordsman, cut off Van Gogh’s ear.
But Van Gogh, who suffered from a seizure, could not remember anything and left it up to Gauguin to give police an account of the incident.
Later, in a letter to Van Gogh’s brother, Theo, Gauguin asked for his belongings – including his fencing mask and gloves, but not his foil – a sign that he could have gotten rid of it at the time of the fight.
“I cannot claim to be 100 percent sure that the theory is correct – no historian could be,” Wildegans said.
“Everything we know about what happened is from Gauguin. But Gauguin was an inveterate liar.”