Weingarten Manuscript Facsimile Edition

The Weingarten Manuscript is a collection of poems belonging to the late medieval German tradition of Minnesang, and a remarkable example of 14th-century South German book illustration.

Its 158 folios contain lyrics by thirty-one poets and twenty-five beautiful miniatures depicting Minnesänger, i.e. the poems' authors, clad in traditional long-sleeved garments, most of them shown in three-quarter profile.

According to the tradition of Minnesang (ancient German for "love song"), the relationship between the man and his beloved lady equals that between vassal and lord: his devotion to her is compared to a feudal contract. Modeled after poetic patterns from France, the Minnesang may be considered the German counterpart of the Old Occitan lyric poetry sung by troubadours.

The fashion of portraying the author seated in the act of writing his work dates back to classical antiquity and to the medieval illustrations of meditating Evangelists.