The following is a transcript between myself and ChatGPT 4o.
YOU said:
Create an image of a rainbow as seen through the eyes of Monet after his cataract surgery. Think carefully about how he would have perceived the rainbow given the alteration to the visible spectrum of light that he had access to.
ChatGPT said:
Image created
You said:
That’s wrong – you’ve rendered an image of a rainbow that looks like it was painted by Monet, but that’s not what I asked for. What I asked for is the perception of an actual rainbow as if being looked at through the eyes of Monet postcataract removal surgery. This means that the image technically should be photographic in nature, respond back with the image and an explanation of why the rainbow looks like what it does.
ChatGPT said:
Image created
🎨 Context: Claude Monet’s Cataract Surgery
Claude Monet suffered from cataracts in his later years, significantly affecting his perception of color. Cataracts cloud the eye’s lens, muting colors and increasing yellow-brown hues. After his cataract surgery in 1923, Monet had one eye with a removed lens and the other still affected. The operated eye no longer filtered UV light — meaning he could see into the ultraviolet range.
This had two main effects:
- Shifted Color Perception:
- Whites and blues appeared overly bright or bluish.
- Purples looked more intense.
- Reds may have looked muted compared to blues and violets.
- Unusual Rainbow Perception:
- Ultraviolet light, normally invisible to humans, could now be perceived — possibly as bluish-white or violet extensions beyond the traditional visible violet band.
- Monet might have seen a “seven-color” rainbow with an extended violet tail.
🖼️ What’s Different in This Rainbow (Post-Cataract Monet)
If you’re seeing the image of a rainbow:
- The violet band may appear extended or brighter.
- Colors like blue and purple are more vivid and contrast more sharply with adjacent bands.
- Red, orange, and yellow may appear duller or less saturated.
- A slight ultraviolet “haze” may bleed into the air above the violet arc — simulating how UV might be perceived.
If you’d like, I can regenerate the image with a clearer photographic fidelity, simulating the UV-perceiving eye and the color imbalance between the eyes more precisely.
ChatGPT said:
Image created
You said:
Maybe if instead you generated a side-by-side comparison of the same rainbow as seen through a regular person’s eyes next to Monet’s eyes?
ChatGPT said:
Image created
