Well, we now have a new theory on the fate artist Vincent Van Gogh’s ear, that rather than having cut it off himself, that it was as a result of a fight with fellow artist, and friend Paul Gaugin:

According to official versions, the disturbed Dutch painter cut off his ear with a razor after a row with Gauguin in 1888. Bleeding heavily, Van Gogh then walked to a brothel and presented the severed ear to an astonished prostitute called Rachel before going home to sleep in a blood-drenched bed.

But two German art historians, who have spent 10 years reviewing the police investigations, witness accounts and the artists’ letters, argue that Gauguin, a fencing ace, most likely sliced off the ear with his sword during a fight, and the two artists agreed to hush up the truth.

This is a definition of friendship of which I was previously unaware.

^*You really didn’t think that I could pass up this pun.