Personification of Synagogue

This relief shows the blindfolded figure of Synagogue. It comes from an altarpiece carved with scenes of the Life of the Virgin. It shows the blindfolded woman who sits in an attitude of defeat, confined in a small cell-like space. She holds the tablets of the Old Testament in her left hand and a broken standard in her right.She represents the 'antitype' (or complete opposite) of the Virgin, who would be placed higher up, in the form of Ecclesia, the personification of the Church. She is dressed in clothes that were fashionable between about 1500 and 1550. She has a chain girdle round her waist. It reaches to the floor and ends in a bell-shaped tassel or pomander. To date, we know of no other altarpieces in the Netherlands that show this particular figure. However, there are examples of single figures in similar postures set in square panels.