On the evening of 23 December 1888, a young painter named Vincent van Gogh, in an absinthe-induced fit of madness, severed his left ear and delivered it to his favorite barmaid, Rachel. When he wakes on Christmas morning in a shabby hospital room in the south of France, he is tended by a young Nurse and Doctor. After recalling the horror of the past few days, Vincent is greeted by the arrival of his brother Theo and fellow painter Paul Gauguin, which causes him to confront the severity of his actions and accept the course of his new fate.
Was it madness? Despair? Or simply a joke? The Sower seeks to answer the question, "What caused Vincent van Gogh to cut off his ear?"