Vincent van Gogh is the one artist who has the extraordinary distinction of being widely loved and admired by the public at large as well as highly regarded by the specialist. What is it about this work that accounts for such extraordinary stance? We will discover the answer to this question by examining the convergence of diverse motivations - existential, religious, political, psychopathological, sexual, technical, etc.- that converged in van Gogh's mind in such a manner that, suddenly, from them and thanks to them, emerged the torrent of extraordinary works of art that move us so profoundly.