The Starry Night was painted in June 1889 when Vincent van Gogh was staying at a home for the mentally ill. Van Gogh painted the night sky with clouds, stars and a moon. However, he didn’t just paint the clouds. He also painted the massive circles of white and yellow racing across the sky. The stars and the moon hang bright in the night sky. Beneath this amazing sky, we see a sleeping village and a dark, lonely tree.