Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi

The task and objective of the long‑term project “Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi” (CVMA), which has been supervised by the Mainz Academy since 1975, is the scientific study of medieval and early‑modern stained‑glass windows preserved in the former West German states. This work is carried out within the research network founded in 1952 that brings together twelve European countries, the United States and Canada. Since the German reunification, a similarly structured research centre, overseen by the Berlin‑Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and based in Potsdam, has been responsible for the new federal states. 

The artworks, increasingly threatened by environmental damage, are photographed, graphically documented and edited in accordance with the international CVMA guidelines. In addition to the material recording of the holdings preserved in situ or in museum collections, questions about technical requirements, historical contexts, stylistic developments, the underlying programmes of imagery, the role of patrons and the working practices of the workshops are clarified. In this way, the Corpus Vitrearum editions become source works that provide the entire field of medieval studies with fresh data and new research questions.