Synagoga and Ecclesia, Strasbourg Cathedral


A close look at Synagoga and Ecclesia at Strasbourg Cathedral helps to illuminate the shifting meanings of Gothic sculpture.

South Portal of Strasbourg Cathedral, c. 1230, with mid-nineteenth century restorations (lintels, Solomon, and Christ). Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris


Additional resources

The Death of the Virgin, Strasbourg Cathedral, a Smarthistory video

Depicting Judaism in a medieval Christian ivory, a Smarthistory video

Bernd Nicolai, “Orders in Stone: Social Reality and Artistic Approach. The Case of the Strasbourg South Portal,” Gesta, vol 41, no. 2 (2002): 111–128.

Nina Rowe, The Jew, the Cathedral and the Medieval City: Synagoga and Ecclesia in the Thirteenth Century (Cambridge University Press, 2011).

Nina Rowe, “Rethinking Ecclesia and Synagoga in the Thirteenth Century,” in Gothic, Art & Thought in the Later Medieval Period: Essays in Honor of Willibald Sauerländer, ed. Colum Hourihane (Penn State University Press, 2011), pp. 264-91.

Nina Rowe, “Idealization and Subjection at the South Porch of Strasbourg Cathedral,” in Beyond the Yellow Badge: Anti-Judaism and Anti-Semitism in Medieval and Early Modern Visual Culture, ed. Mitchell Merback (Brill, 2008), pp. 179-202.

Cite this page as: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Synagoga and Ecclesia, Strasbourg Cathedral," in Smarthistory, May 4, 2023, accessed March 28, 2024, https://smarthistory.org/synagoga-and-ecclesia-strasbourg-cathedral/.