In his first general audience in Rome on 25 May 2025, Pope Leo XIV referred to Vincent van Gogh’s painting The Sower at Sunset and called it a symbol of hope.
A brilliant setting sun illuminates a field as a farmer walks toward the right, sowing seeds.
Van Gogh (1853–1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter, among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.
Van Gogh had a special interest in sowers throughout his artistic career. In total, he made more than 30 drawings and paintings on this theme.
It is worth noting that the letter Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo, explaining his “Sower” painting, refers to an autumn 1888 version that includes a tree. The painting Pope Leo and we are reflecting on was painted in June.
When observing the painting, my eye is immediately drawn to the large yellow disk dominating the horizon.
Then there is the determined stride of the person sowing.
When did you last see blue and purple soil?
There is another detail that may be the most thought-provoking of all. The sower is striding through fallow ground, dispersing seed, while behind him lies a field of fully ripened cereal.
I see no fence. On most occasions, an entire field is harvested at once.
What might that be saying about Van Gogh? More importantly, does the image say anything about me?
Fully ripened grain sits alongside fallow ground.
How many occasions have I heard the Word of God, and how many times have I truly listened to it? I would suggest there is a difference.
Hearing is somewhat like the seed on thin soil. Listening is more like the seed settling — going down and waiting as the warm, dark earth does its nurturing.
The seed grows in darkness. The seed grows unseen. The seed grows with the assistance of others — soil and water. A seed cannot grow on its own.
Part of the field has grown wheat; another part of the same field is being planted. Is that true of me? Of us?