synagoga

Synagoga is the Latin term for synagogue, but in medieval Christian art it designates an allegorical figure representing Judaism and the Old Covenant, typically paired with Ecclesia, the personification of the Christian Church and the New Covenant. The motif, known as Ecclesia et Synagoga, appears in sculpture, fresco, and manuscript illumination from late antiquity into the Renaissance, especially in Western Europe. The two figures stand side by side or opposite each other to symbolize the theological claim that the Christian revelation fulfills and supersedes the Mosaic law.

Iconography of Synagoga varies. She is usually depicted as a female figure holding or pointing to the Torah or tablets of the Law, sometimes with attributes of ceremony or sorrow. Ecclesia is shown as a more dominant, crowned, or liturgical figure often with a cross and globe. The scene conveys the idea of anticipation or fulfillment of the coming of Christ. In some variants Synagoga is represented as blindfolded or with a broken staff, but such details are not universal.

From the early modern period onward, the popularity of the image waned as theological perspectives and attitudes toward Judaism changed. In contemporary scholarship, the motif is analyzed as part of the iconography of supersessionism and reflections of historical Christian–Jewish relations. Modern discussions emphasize critical reading of these images and, in many cases, reinterpretations or rejection of the anti-Jewish implications of the traditional portrayal.

Today Synagoga is primarily a term used in art history and theology rather than a living religious symbol in Judaism, and it is most often encountered in studies of medieval art, church architecture, and illuminated manuscripts.