Our pysches want to simplify the dead, to find a theme to hang them on. We make myths this way, transforming real humans into heroes, even if tragic ones, until eventually they become archetypes like those in our old stories.
Self-Portraits, January–June 1887. Pen and ink, graphite on wove paper, 31.1 x 24.4 cm (12-1/4 x 9-5/8 in.), Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)