He moved to Barbizon, a small village on the edge of the Fontainebleau forest in the northern part of the center of France, due to a cholera outbreak and political and social unrest caused by the Revolutions of 1848.

[1] It later surfaced again in Galerie Goupil, a leading art dealership in France in the 19th century that specialized in auctioning off paintings and sculptures.

[7] Millet greatly enjoyed looking up at the stars, especially when in Barbizon; in a letter to his brother, he wrote, "If only you knew how beautiful the night is ... the calm and grandeur of it are so awesome that I find that I actually feel overwhelmed.

[8] In fact, according to Dr. Martin Beech, a professor of astronomy at Campion College at the University of Regina, "the season during which Nuit Étoilée is set can possibly be dated with some accuracy.

[8] From March 2 to June 8, 2008, Starry Night was displayed in the National Gallery of Art in an exhibition called "In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet".

In his early years, van Gogh painted numerous copies of Millet's works that pertained to peasants, such as The Sower, and was in awe of his style and technique.

[11] Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro – two Impressionist painters who were active in the late 19th and early 20th century – were also significantly influenced by Millet's landscape paintings.