includes a sympathetic watchman in several instances,
and in one poem he is the dominant speaker. The poems
generally end with one last embrace and then the tearful
parting as the sun rises higher. Wolfram’s dawn songs,
among the fi rst in German of that genre, are marked
by their striking imagery and their sensitive portrayal
of the lovers. His few other poems are similar to more
traditional Minnelieder (courtly love songs) but show
his complete mastery of that type.
See also Eilhart von Oberg; Gottfried von Straß-
burg; Hartmann von Aue
Further Reading
Bumke, Joachim. Die Wolfram von Eschenbach Forschung seit
- Bericht und Bibliographie. Munich: Wilhelm Fink,
——. Wolfram von Eschenbach, 6th ed. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1991;
7th ed., 1997.
Gibbs, Marion E., and Sidney M. Johnson, trans. Wolfram von
Eschenbach: Willehlam. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1984.
Gibbs, Marion E., and Sidney M. Johnson. Wolfram von Eschen-
bach: “Titurel” and the “Songs.” New York: Garland, 1988
[with English trans.].
——. Medieval German Literature: A Companion. New York:
Garland, 1997, pp. 174–205.
Green, D. H. The Art of Recognition in Wolfram’s “Parzival.”
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Groos Arthur. Romancing the Grail. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Uni-
versity Press, 1995 [on Parzival].
Hatto, Arthur T., trans. Wolfram von Eschenbach: Parzival. Har-
mondsworth: Penguin, 1980.
Heinzle, Joachim. Stellenkommentar zu Wolframs “Titurel.”
Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1972.
Heinzle, Joachim, ed. Wolfram von Eschenbach: Willehlam.
Frankfurt am Main: Verlag Deutscher Klassiker, 1991 [with
German trans.].
——, ed. Willehalm: nach der Handschrift 857 der Stiftsbiblio-
thek St. Gallen. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1994.
Kiening, Christian. “Wolfram von Eschenbach: Willehalm,” in
Mittelhochdeutsche Romane und Heldenepen, ed. Horst Brun-
ner. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1993, pp. 212–232.
Kühn, Dieter, trans. Wolfram von Eschenbach: Parzival. Frankfurt
am Main: Insel, 1986.
Lachmann, Karl, ed. Wolfram von Eschenbach, 6th ed. Berlin:
de Gruyter, 1926 [reprinted often].
Leitzmann, Albert, ed. Wolfram von Eschenbach, 5 vols. Halle
(Saale): Niemeyer, 1902–1906 [reprinted often].
Lofmark, Carl. Rennewart in Wolfram’s “Willehalm”: A Study
of Wolfram von Eschenbach and His Sources. Cambridge,
England: Cambridge University Press, 1972.
Mertens, Volker. “Wolfram von Eschenbach: Titurel,” in Mittel-
hochdeutsche Romane und Heldenepen, ed. Horst Brunner.
Stuttgart: Reclam, 1993, pp. 196–211.
Mohr, Wolfgang. Wolfram von Eschenbach. Titurel. Lieder. Göp-
pingen: Kummerle, 1978, pp. 101–161.
Mustard, Helen M., and Charles E. Passage, trans. Wolfram von
Eschenbach: Parzival. New York: Vintage Books, 1961.
Nellmann, Eberhard, ed. Wolfram von Eschenbach: Parzival.
Frankfurt am Main: Verlag Deutscher Klassiker, 1994 [Ger-
man trans. Dieter Kühn].
Passage, Charles E., trans. Wolfram von Eschenbach: Willehlam.
New York: Ungar, 1977.
——. trans. Wolfram von Eschenbach: Titurel. New York: Ungar,
1984.
Poag, James F. Wolfram von Eschenbach. New York: Twayne,
1972 [good general introduction in English].
Pretzel, Ulrich, and Wolfgang Bachofer. Bibliographie zu Wol-
fram von Eschenbach, 2d ed. Berlin: Schmidt, 1968.
Schmidt, Elisabeth. “Wolfram von Eschenbach: Parzival,” in Mit-
telhochdeutsche Romane und Heldenepen, ed. Horst Brunner.
Stuttgart: Reclam, 1993, pp. 173–195.
Schröder, Werner, ed. Wolfram von Eschenbach: Willehalm.
Berlin: de Gruyter, 1978 [with German trans. Dieter Karts-
choke; rev. 1989].
Walshe, Maurice O’C. Medieval German Literature. Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1962, pp. 156–175 [concise
treatment].
Wapnewski, Peter. Die Lyrik Wolframs von Eschenbach: Edition.
Kommentar. Interpretation. Munich: Beck, 1972 [songs, with
German trans.].
Sidney M. JohnsonWOLGEMUT, MICHAEL
(1434/1437–1519)
Born in Nuremberg between 1434 and 1437, Michael
Wolgemut was the city’s foremost painter and print-
maker in the late fi fteenth century. Wolgemut trained
with his father, Valentin, a painter, and worked as a
journeyman with Gabriel Mälesskircher in Munich
before returning to Nuremberg in 1471. A year later he
married Barbara, the widow of the noted painter Hans
Pleydenwurff. Whether he had collaborated earlier with
Hans is uncertain. Wolgemut developed a large work-
shop that specialized in the production of large retables,
woodcuts, and designs for stained glass windows. The
artist’s pupils included his stepson, Wilhelm Pleyden-
wurff, and Albrecht Dürer, who was in the shop from
1486 until 1489.
Wolgemut’s fi rst documented painting is the high
altar completed in 1479 for the St. Marienkirche in
Zwickau. This complex polyptych includes painted
wings depicting the Passion of Christ (exterior) and
Infancy (middle) that cover the nine life-size standing
statues of saints on the inner wings and in the corpus, a
painted and carved winged predella (lower altar panel),
and a Last Judgment covering the back of the altar.
Wolgemut employed a team of now anonymous joiners,
painters, and sculptors on this and similar elaborate proj-
ects, notably the Peringsdorfer Altar made circa 1486
for the Augustinian Cloister in Nuremberg (today in the
Friedenskirche) and the high altar (1506–1508) in the
church of St. Johannes and St. Marrinus in Schwabach.
In his paintings, including his independent portraits,
such as that of Levinus Memminger circa 1485 (Madrid,
Museo Thyssen-Borne-misza), Wolgemut displayed his
familiarity with Netherlandish art, notably the works
of Rogier van der Weyden and Dirk Bouts. His clearly
defi ned fi gures are located in the extreme foreground
before deep landscapes.WOLFRAM VON ESCHENBACH