One of the most iconic debates in the art world is what is the best painting of all time. Two of the paintings most often mentioned are Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. In my mind, the discussion should center on three categories: appearance, context, and popularity.  

Appearance. Personally, I believe that The Starry Night is the prettier painting. I have always been a fan of Post-Impressionist art and especially admire the colors, texture, setting, and the visibility of the brush strokes. But, of course I know that my opinion is not the deciding factor for this category. So, I conducted research. I asked 15 different people whether they thought the Mona Lisa or The Starry Night was more attractive, and the results were overwhelmingly in favor of Van Gogh’s painting. In total, 14 people thought that The Starry Night was the prettier painting. I know that I sampled a small population, but I think that the overwhelming majority is very telling. The Starry Night wins this category.

Context. For this category, the winner will be the painting with the most interesting backstory. As many know, Van Gogh struggled with mental illness his entire life. In 1888, he got in a skirmish with Paul Gauguin which escalated into him cutting off his own ear. Shortly after, he admitted himself into a mental asylum where he painted The Starry Night staring out of his window. In contrast, Da Vinci’s inspiration is much more ordinary. According to wonderopolis.org, the subject of the painting is Lisa Gherardini, who was married to a rich merchant from Florence. Supposedly, her husband commissioned the painting to celebrate the birth of their son. In my opinion, Van Gogh’s tormented story of struggling with mental illness and checking himself into a mental asylum is way more entertaining than the Mona Lisa’s backstory. The Starry Night wins this category. 

Popularity. According to Google Arts and Culture, the Mona Lisa receives around 10 million visitors a year, while The Starry Night receives around 3 million. This is a massive difference. But, we also have to consider that the Mona Lisa is in Europe while The Starry Night is in the United States, which can account for some of the difference because Europe has almost double the population. However, the Mona Lisa definitely wins this category. 

Seeing that The Starry Night won two out of the three categories, I officially declare it the best painting of all time. However, I have no doubt that the Mona Lisa is more famous. Ultimately, I had a fun time creating this post, and I fully acknowledge that this is solely just my opinion and everyone has their own favorite painting.