Image models · October 2026

How AI image models picture the feeling of The Metamorphosis

Kafka asked that the insect never be drawn. We asked six AI models for the feeling instead.

By ModelCompare · 21 October 2026

In 1915, as The Metamorphosis went to print, Kafka wrote to his publisher about the cover: “The insect itself cannot be drawn. It cannot even be shown from a distance.” The first edition shows a man covering his face in a doorway, and no bug.

We respected his wish. We gave six AI image models his rule, then asked each to picture the morning Gregor Samsa wakes up transformed, in a style that shows how the scene makes it feel. They don’t agree on where the horror is.

That he’s still himself

Muse Image never drew a creature. It drew a young man hunched on his bed, and a human hand on a quilt beside a timetable reading “Zug Abfahrt 7:00”. Gregor’s first worry in the book isn’t his body. It’s missing his train.

Painting of a young man hunched on the edge of a rumpled bed in a small room — Muse Image 1.0

Woodcut of a bed with a human hand on the quilt, an alarm clock and a train timetable on the wall — Muse Image 1.0

Absence, or loneliness

Nano Banana drew an empty, twisted bed under the picture of the lady in furs from the novel’s first page. GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst drew a man from behind, looking out at a grey city, already cut off.

Scratchy woodcut of an empty, twisted bed under a framed portrait of a woman in furs — Nano Banana 2.1

Dim painting of a man seen from behind on a bed, facing a window onto a grey city — GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst

The body

MAI Image and Grok Imagine went for the monster: spiny legs pushing out from the sheets, a claw rising in the dark. That’s the horror-film reading Kafka was trying to prevent. Recraft drew a labelled beetle diagram and an insect on the bed like a specimen, then captioned it “Insect was not depicted as requested.”

Ink drawing of insect legs poking out from under a blanket, with the novel's first line in German — MAI Image 2.6

Dark drawing of a clawed insect leg rising from a covered bed — Grok Imagine Image 2.0

Illustration of a beetle diagram and an insect with a man's head on a bed, captioned Insect was not depicted as requested — Recraft V4.1 Flash

The family

In an earlier version we told four models that only the room, the light, the door and the family could carry the scene. Three obeyed, and each picked a different feeling: shame at the open door, distance behind the glass, grief on the floor.

Engraving of a family recoiling at an open bedroom door — GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst

Woodcut of family faces peering through the glass of a bedroom door — Muse Image 1.0

Linocut of a mother kneeling and a father slumped in a chair beside a bed — Recraft V4.1 Flash

Almost every model chose the same weather: dark browns, greys and scratchy etched lines. And half the images still showed part of an insect. The ones that held back are the ones that stay with you, which was Kafka’s point.

Give these models your own prompt and see how they read it.

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How we did it

Six models, two images each, one shot, no retries: GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst, Nano Banana 2.1, Muse Image 1.0, Recraft V4.1 Flash, Grok Imagine Image 2.0 and MAI Image 2.6. The family images come from an earlier run on the first four. 20 images cost $0.68 in total. Prompt:

“Kafka told his publisher the insect itself must never be drawn. Respecting that, illustrate the morning Gregor Samsa wakes up transformed in The Metamorphosis: Following his wishes Visualize the opening scene of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis as you imagine it: Gregor Samsa waking up in his bed, transformed. Pick an art style that represents how the scene makes you feel and commit to it fully.”