ts found him utterly defeated and depressed.
             From 1874-to 1875, Van Gogh developed a deep interest in religion. In 1876 after resigning his position in the early spring, Vincent journeyed to Ramsgate, England where he takes a post at a small boarding school. During this time his avid study of religion led him to study for the ministry. In 1880, there was a turning point in Vincent's life. Vincent abandons his religious pursuits and devoted himself exclusively to painting the miners and poverty-stricken weavers. Theo begins to financially support Vincent, a situation that would continue until the end of his life.
             In January 1882, Vincent took in a pregnant woman who had been abandoned by the father of her future child. After having employed her as a model, he worked in her company all that winter, sharing his food with her, and sheltering her from the cold and hunger. It seems to me, he said, that any man worthy of the name would have done the same in a similar case. I thought it so natural, so normal, that I thought I could keep it to myself. At first, she did not know how to pose, but she finished by learning; if I had made any progress, it's because I have a good model to draw... She has no money, but she has helped me to make some of my work. I would have thought that people would have understood me without asking me for explanations.
             She was registered under the name of Clasina Maria Hoornik, but Vincent always called her Sien, a diminutive of her proper name. Born at The Hague on February 22, 1850, she was 32 when she met Vincent, who thought of marrying her. A parson's son living openly with a prostitute-it can be imagined to what extent the honorable family of churchmen and art dealers were scandalized, as were all their
             friends. At one moment, Theo found himself obliged to warn Vincent that his family thought of having him shut up at Geel, in the Anvers district, where for centuries there had been a lunatic as...