Abstract:
The author portraits from the Manesse Codex, a 14th-century compilation of
German love lyrics, have traditionally been viewed as expendable illustrations to the
accompanying texts. In fact, these paintings profoundly affected how contemporary
readers would have understood the poems, thus helping shape social attitudes regarding
the nature and meaning of authorship. Three specific images in the manuscript reveal
various modulations in the patron's or artist's attitude towards authorship. The
frontispiece for Der von Kiirenberg reconfigures a traditional motif to encourage an
autobiographical understanding of his lyrics. Ulrich von Liechtenstein's image draws on
sources outside the manuscript to promote a similar interpretation. In a third image, the
poet Johannes Hadlaub, who appears to have participated in the making of the
manuscript, deliberately exploits the image's ability to shape expectations of his status
as an author by having himself depicted as if he had experienced the events described in
his poetry.