In contrast to other canonical works of the Middle High German classical period (ca. 1170–ca.1250) such as Tristan, Parzival,and Willehalm,the works of Hartmann von Aue gave rise to no manuscript illumination. His courtly romances, on the other hand — primarily Iwein but also in one notable instance Erec — provoke a great variety of responses in the monumental and decorative arts, beginning early in the thirteenth century and continuing into the fifteenth. Later, near the end of the Middle Ages, short texts on the Gregorius tale — derived from Hartmann's work — begin to be accompanied by illustrations both in manuscripts and in early printed books. In the present survey of Hartmann in the visual arts, it is also appropriate to mention the miniatures depicting Hartmann himself that accompany his lyrics in the Manesse and Weingartner song manuscripts.

The great diversity of the visual responses to Hartmann's works illustrates an essential fact about the broader reception of medieval literary materials in the visual arts: namely, the fundamental independence of the visual arts from the original or canonical texts. Artists dealing with Iwein and Erec obviously felt free to reshape the stories in accordance with their own artistic intentions, including certain plot elements and omitting others, emphasizing here one aspect, there another, drawing on iconographic traditions not only to help visualize stories and characters but also to shape meaning and vary the emotional charge. In the case of some Iwein artworks as well as the Gregorius illustrations, independent structures such as the topos of the Slaves of Love or a collection of saints’ legends essentially take over the narrative material, and the resulting art work derives its meaning as much or more from the new structure as from anything inherent in the story.

When one considers the variety of ways visual artists have responded to Hartmann's Arthurian romances, it almost appears as if they set out to offer the widest possible range of answers to the question posed by the wild man in Iwein: “Âventiure: waz ist daz?” (Adventure: What is that?, 527; Rushing 1995, 23–24).