In a page in his diary headed Nice 22.01.1892, Munch described his inspiration for the image thus:
I was walking along a path with two friends the sun was setting suddenly the sky turned blood red I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.