Ecclesia and Synagoga
A Medieval Artistic Vision Updated for the 21st Century
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In medieval art and architecture,听Ecclesia and Synagoga听were the symbolic representations of the Christian and Jewish faiths, portrayed by two female figures. Ecclesia, representing the Christian church, was proud and triumphant, with crowned head held high and bearing the cross. By contrast, Synagoga, representing Judaism, was shown downcast and forlorn in her defeat, bearing broken tablets and blindfolded -- illustrating her blindness to the "truth" of the New Testament. Many European cathedrals bear the statues of听Ecclesia and Synagoga, and they are depicted in stained glass as well.
Mary C. Boys, author of听Has God Only One Blessing? Judaism as a Source of Christian Self-Understanding听(Paulist Press/Stimulus Books, 2000), found this representation troubling. She commissioned a new artwork to accompany her book. The new听Ecclesia and Synagoga听also appears on the cover of听Friends on the Way: Jesuits Encounter Contemporary Judiaism, edited by Thomas Michel, S.J. (Fordham University Press, 2007). This interpretation by sculptor Paula Mary Turnbull, S.N.J.M., offers "a new depiction of听Ecclesia and Synagoga, where both stand tall as representations of their faith communities."
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Originally published as an online web extra for The 99精品视频 Magazine, Spring 2008