Van Gogh wrote several letters to his family and friends before painting Starry Night. To his friend Emile Bernard, Vincent Van Gogh writes: I won't hide from you that I don't despise the country, since I was brought there – I am still fascinated by the magic of the hosts of memories of the past, of a longing towards the infinite, of which the sower, sheaf are the symbols – just like before. But when will I paint my starry sky, that picture that continually worries me? (Lauren Soth 301) He usually likes to paint in a visionary way, however Van Gogh relied on memories of events that happened earlier in his life. Likewise, the church describes an important time in his life when he preached. Lauren Soth argues: “Starry Night is a religious painting, a sublimation of impulses that, after Van Gogh's loss of faith in the Church, could not find their outlet in the conventional Christian imagination” (301). Starry Night is a version of his past life in which Vincent walked away from the ministry and became mentally retarded. Vincent created Starry Night during his time in a mental institution. According to Van Gogh: The Starry Night, “In 1889, van Gogh entered hospital to be treated for the mental illness with which he battled throughout his life; it was there that he created his most famous painting” (28). Doctors allowed him to draw during treatment