This article was originally published in Getty magazine

In May 1889, after a mental health episode culminated in Vincent van Gogh severing his left ear, the artist, accompanied by the Reverend Salles, arrived at the psychiatric clinic Saint-Paul-de-Mausole outside Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and voluntarily committed himself for treatment.

Van Gogh would spend the next year there in what would become one of the most productive artistic periods of his life—he finished around 130 paintings while undergoing inpatient therapy. One of these works was Irises, which he based on the bearded blossoms that bloomed and danced in the breeze in the clinic’s garden.

Van Gogh died in 1890 in a presumed suicide just a few months after leaving the clinic. Over a century later, Irises is one of the most cherished works in Getty’s collection. Getty conservators had long wanted to examine the artist’s materials and technique and investigate whether there were any indications of deterioration, such as color changes to the paints he used. They also wanted to add to the international scholarship on Van Gogh and his materials by conducting their own research.