"The Pope pointed out: "At the centre of the scene, however, is not the sower, who stands to the side; instead, the whole painting is dominated by the image of the sun, perhaps to remind us that it is God who moves history, even if he sometimes seems absent or distant." Pope Leo then added that "it is the sun that warms the clods of earth and makes the seed ripen", a spiritual thought that would certainly have resonated with Van Gogh."
"In the National Gallery's Neo-Impressionist exhibition The Sower is there to tell a very different story, one about artistic technique. Van Gogh partly painted the composition by deploying dots and dashes in an almost pointillist style. The idea is that these small marks of pure colour should blend together in the eye of the beholder when seen from a few metres away, strengthening their impact."
The National Gallery opens Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller's Neo-Impressionists (until 8 February 2026), featuring works by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. Van Gogh's The Sower (June 1888) is included and shows his engagement with Neo-Impressionist dot-and-dash techniques related to pointillism. The painting drew attention from Pope Leo XIV, who emphasised the sun's central role as a symbol of God moving history and of warming the earth to ripen seed. Van Gogh was a committed Christian in his early twenties but later abandoned organised religion. Neo-Impressionist marks are intended to blend optically at a viewing distance and intensify colour impact.
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