title: A three-dimensional color space from the 13th century.
abstract: We present a new commentary on Robert Grosseteste's De colore, a short treatise that dates from the early 13th century, in which Grosseteste constructs a linguistic combinatorial account of color. In contrast to other commentaries (e.g., Kuehni & Schwarz, Color Ordered: A Survey of Color Order Systems from Antiquity to the Present, 2007, p. 36), we argue that the color space described by Grosseteste is explicitly three-dimensional. We seek the appropriate translation of Grosseteste's key terms, making reference both to Grosseteste's other works and the broader intellectual context of the 13th century, and to modern color spaces.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Durham University, Durham DH1 3HP, UK. hannah.smithson@psy.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: Hannah E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Smithson
authors.forename: Greti
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dinkova-Bruun
authors.forename: Giles E M
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Gasper
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huxtable
authors.forename: Tom C B
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: McLeish
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Panti
mesh_terms: D003116:Color; D003118:Color Perception; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D008092:Literature, Medieval / Q000266:history*; D008373:Manuscripts as Topic / Q000266:history; D012586:Science / Q000266:history; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014956:Writing / Q000266:history*