American researchers claim to have found the answer to the blood-red sky in Edvard Munch's famous painting "the Scream." The inspiration came from a volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1883.

In the first detailed analysis to find of the source of inspiration for Munch to paint the world famous painting "the Scream," researchers at Texas State University state that they found the place where Munch stood when he saw the bright red sky.

In the analysis which was published Tuesday in the magazine Sky & Telescope, Professor Donald Olson and his colleagues claim that a volcanic mass was admitted out into the atmosphere from a large volcanic eruption on the island of Krakatoa in Indonesia. It created a bright red light in the sky over Europe from November 1883 to February 1884, and it was this light Munch saw when he was inspired to paint "the Scream."

In his diary, Munch wrote that he got the inspiration to paint the picture from an experience he had outside Kristiania (now Oslo) at sunset:

"Suddenly, the sky turned blood-red, clouds as blood and flames hang over the blue-black fjord and town. I was standing alone, trembling with fear. I sensed a grate, infinite scream pass through nature."

Read the story in Nettavisen, News in English.

Art and Culture [14:50]