This study aims to discuss the author’s representation in the illustratedbiographical writings (tazkiras) of the Islamic literature both in Persianand Ottoman works. Tazkiras serve to establish origins and display a celebratedperson’s type through his or her life, actions and sayings. The wordtazkira comes from the root “zikr” which means “to remember” or “torecollect”; therefore tazkira works are also memorial writings (reminders).Despite the large amount of the tazkiras written in Arab, Iran and Ottomanlands and cultures, only a small group of them have been illustrated so asto visualize the texts. A rare group of tazkiras have the representation ofthe author as well as the other personage. The depiction of the author accompanyingthe text in biographical writings is an element that served thesame aim: to carry the information and the visual image of the author intothe future. In this paper, the author portraits from the Persian and Ottomanillustrated tazkiras are discussed according to text-image relationship andgeneral scheme of composition.