Through an analysis of three little-known autobiographies by 19th century artists, this book examines the general area of fictionali- zation in autobiography. Ludwig Richter, Ernst Rietschel and Wilhelm von Kügelgen were born in or near Dresden within two years of one another. They all studied at the Dresden Academy and spent several months in Italy. Although the way they write about their lives is very different, all three found inspiration in and adapted narrative techniques from the autobiographical and fictional writing of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.