Van Gogh had picked up Buddhism, and believed in it to be able to hold back his mental problems while he painted in Arles. Studying the connections between the seasons and the samsara cycle guided him away from irrationality. The Buddhist monk that he so envisioned himself to be failed in this, and as a result van Gogh went crazy. Aware of this, he painted a self-portrait that portrayed his condition. Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889), which van Gogh painted after the crazed incident with Gauguin, consists of the same greenish hue as in his first self-portrait in Arles, but this time, outside of the obvious bandage wrapped over the ear, van Gogh is wearing a winter cap and a green coat rather than a brown one.
Although it may have been cold in the winter time, it should not be so cold inside his own house that he had to wear this hat indoors. The hat is hiding away his hair or lack thereof, and keeps his image of himself as a monk uncertain at this time. Van Gogh is no longer sure whether he is persevering through his suffering with the resolve of a Buddhist, and thus creates an ambiguous identity in this self-portrait. It is possible he does not want to show the monk’s defeat, and is not willing to reveal that he no longer can follow the Buddhist beliefs.
The Japanese print hanging in the background is like the last remnant of the Japan that Arles was to van Gogh. While Self-Portrait Dedicated to Gauguin included a van Gogh wearing a brown coat and monk’s bald head who could restrain the madness in the background, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear depicts the invasion of the bright jade color all over, even into van Gogh’s coat and eyes. Contrasting the two self-portraits, it is clear that Van Gogh’s madness has taken the reigns over the monk of self-control, a sign that just as Buddhism had its influences over both van Gogh’s art and himself as a person, so has his madness done the same after Arles.