Little-known facts

ONE:
Van Gogh was an expert reader of French novels*, and also a big fan of Charles Dickens.

*What people often forget is that he was Dutch, not French. (birthplace)

TWO:
Madame Butterfly by Puccini could just as easily have wound up being called Madame Chrysanthème, the title of the novel by Pierre Loti on which it was based. For information on Loti (and a dashing pic) see here.