1. Van Gogh recalled this spot, which is an important memory in the relationship between the brothers, on a number of occasions. See letter 11.

2. This winter trip to Chaam in Brabant must have been the one that Van Gogh refers to in letter 100.

3. Van Gogh knew Millet’s views through Sensier’s La vie et l’oeuvre (1881), which he had read in The Hague.

4. The wealthy Jacques Louis Corot owned a fashion house in Paris. He and Corot’s mother, Marie Françoise Corot-Oberson, encouraged their son – against his inclination – to become a cloth merchant. After he had begged his parents to be allowed to become a painter for several years, they finally agreed in 1822. See exhib. cat. Paris 1996, pp. 15-16. Van Gogh may have acquired his knowledge from Dumesnil 1875.

5. Van Gogh crossed out ‘theatrical’ (‘theatrale’) before ‘reconciliations’.

6. Cf. 2 Kings 2:10 and Isa. 7:7.

7. After ‘in this respect’ Van Gogh crossed out: ‘Perhaps [indeed[?] you will also turn into a dog and go out into nature’ (‘U maakt [ja[?] misschien ook tot een hond doch weer in de natuur in’).