The artist's secrets and lies are revealed on the Van Gogh trail in Arles

As a new major exhibition is set to open, Michael Hodges takes a train to Arles to retrace the famous painter’s steps and discovers a twisty tale where fact merges into fiction and brings a surprising portrait of the artist to life

The painting is on loan for an exhibition that opens this weekend in the Provençal city where the painter became obsessed with the night sky and eventually descended into madness