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We present a new analysis of Robert Grosseteste's account of color in his treatise De iride (On the Rainbow), dating from the early 13th century. The work explores color within the 3D framework set out in Grosseteste's De colore [see J. Opt. Soc. Am. A29, A346 (2012)], but now links the axes of variation to observable properties of rainbows. We combine a modern understanding of the physics of rainbows and of human color perception to resolve the linguistic ambiguities of the medieval text and to interpret Grosseteste's key terms.

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Opt Soc Am A Opt Image Sci Vis

Publication Date

01/04/2014

Volume

31

Pages

A341 - A349

Keywords

Color, Color Perception, Humans, Linguistics, Literature, Medieval, Models, Theoretical