Personification of the Church (Ecclesia)

Ecclesia — the personification of the Church — appears as the triumphant counterpart to Synagoga in the Groeningemuseum St. Ursula altarpiece programme. Crowned and carrying a chalice or the cup of the Eucharist, Ecclesia represents the Christian church's claim to supersede the Jewish covenant. The juxtaposition of Synagoga and Ecclesia had roots in medieval cathedral sculpture and was revived in later fifteenth-century panel painting as part of systematic theological decorative programmes. The Groeningemuseum's possession of both personifications allows their theological dialogue to be understood in context.

As Synagoga's counterpart, Ecclesia is given the upright, crowned, and triumphant posture that signifies theological victory in this allegorical system. The master renders her royal attributes — crown, sceptre or chalice — with the same care given to secular portrait accessories.