The FORUM KUNST DES MITTELALTERS / FORUM MEDIEVAL ART is a biannual colloquium organized by the Deutsche Verein für Kunstwissenschaft e.V. Held at rotating sites throughout Germany, the Forum brings together research and researchers on different fields, regions, and periods to exchange ideas pertaining to the study of medieval art.

The theme for the 7th Forum Medieval Art is Light: Art, Metaphysics and Science in the Middle Ages. In numerous creation myths, light stands at the beginning of the cosmos. Light, beauty and the good belonged inseparably together in the Middle Ages. Darkness, ugliness and evil formed the opposite pole. The degree of perfection of nature, people and things could be measured by their beauty, which was essentially determined by brightness, brilliance and luminosity. This concept applied to Byzantium as well as to the Christian West, Judaism and Islam. In the Middle Ages, the way this was experienced and communicated was a fundamental achievement not only of sacred art, but it also shaped secular and courtly culture. Under the theme of light, the 7th Forum Medieval Art is dedicated to the multifaceted connections between art, metaphysics, and natural science in the Middle Ages.