  Spectral ellipsometry has been used to determine the dielectric function of
an untwinned crystal of LaMnO_3 in the spectral range 0.5-5.6 eV at
temperatures 50 K < T < 300 K. A pronounced redistribution of spectral weight
is found at the Neel temperature T_N = 140 K. The anisotropy of the spectral
weight transfer matches the magnetic ordering pattern. A superexchange model
quantitatively describes spectral weight transfer induced by spin correlations.
This analysis implies that the lowest-energy transitions around 2 eV are
intersite d-d transitions, and that LaMnO_3 is a Mott-Hubbard insulator.
