The Day before Parting

Van Gogh, trained as a minister, was always aware of the moral element in any work of art.  Thinking of artists whom he greatly admired, he wrote to his brother that "in Millet, in Jules Breton, and in Jozef Israels, the precious pearl, the human soul, is even more in evidence and better expressed, in a noble, worthier, & if you will allow me, more evangelical tone." This moving image by Israels depicts the grief of a fisherman's widow on the day before his burial.