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Synagoga and Ecclesia, translating to ‘church and Synagogue’ from Latin, symbolise the triumph of Christianity in medieval architecture of the 13th and 14th century. This pair of female figures can be found in many cathedrals, usually found at the entrance of churches, on either sides of church portals or next to scenes of crucifixion. The original figures, from which this reproduction was made, are located in the southern portal of the Strasbourg Cathedral in France. Another example of these figures dating back to the same period can be found at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
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To this day, stone figures decorating Christian churches reveal an aesthetic expression of the attitude of Christianity towards Judaism. Synagoga is as blind as Judaism to the idea of Jesus as Savior. Synagoga is drooping and humiliated, holding a broken spear and the Jewish Talmud which is slowly slipping out of her hands. These details are made to showcase how the Jewish people are minorities in the face of Christianity, powerless and no longer considered the chosen people. Unlike Synagoga, Ecclesia is proud, standing tall and crowned as a queen who looks with pity on Judaism.
Synagoga and Ecclesia are important visual representations of the ideological background that developed between Christianity and Judaism in the late Middle Ages. It leads to subsequent difficult events and tension that occurred to Ashkenazi Jews.
