Secrets of Monet's 'Sunset' painting unravelled

Scientists have unravelled the secrets of renowned French artist Claude Monet's 'Sunset' painting and found the masterpiece was painted on February 5, 1883 at 4:53 pm local time.
Monet created a striking scene of the Normandy coast in his 19th-century painting 'Etretat: Sunset'.
Now, a team of Texas State University researchers, led by professor Donald Olson, has applied forensic astronomy techniques to Monet's masterpiece, uncovering previously unknown details about the painting's origins.
"We asked, 'Could we use the dramatic rocks in the landscape and the position of the setting Sun to determine where and when, specifically, Monet created this beautiful masterpiece?'" said Olson.

Key to the image is a low, setting Sun just to the right of the landforms, researchers said.
Of all the paintings Monet painted at Etretat, this is the only canvas that includes the disk of the Sun, and that one detail opens the door to date the scene precisely.

To determine on which days in February the Sun would have set in the proper location for Monet to capture in his painting, the researchers travelled to France in August 2012.
Previously, art historians wrote that the scene had been painted by Monet standing just a few yards from a small arch called Porte d'Amont to the northeast of Etretat.

But Olson determined that for an observer in that location the Porte d'Aval and Aiguille do not overlap, and another rock formation is visible through the Aval arch - clearly a different view from Monet's.
To determine the exact locations where Monet stood, the team walked systematically from one end of the beach to the other at low tide, armed with postcard-size reproductions of about a dozen Monet paintings of the area.
They found that the view matched the scene depicted in Etretat: Sunset at only one location - a spot 425 yards from the Porte d'Amont on a rocky beach under an overhanging cliff.

The researchers used planetarium software to compare the modern sky to that of the 19th century.
By determining an astronomical coordinate called declination for the Moon and stars, they calculated the Sun would have set along that path on February 5, 1883.
The group then combed through letters Monet wrote from Etretat during his stay, along with weather records and tide tables from February of 1883 to confirm their date.
The date of February 5 matched the Sun's position, the weather and the tide level in the painting, researchers found.
Armed with that knowledge, the team used the height of the needle-like Aiguille formation to calculate the exact time from the altitude of the sun above the horizon.

"We were able to determine the month, day, hour and precise minute - accurate to plus or minus one minute - when Monet was inspired by that beautiful scene," Olson said.
"Monet observed this sunset on February 5, 1883 at 4:53 pm local mean time," he said.