Allegory of Old and New Testament (Synagogue and Christ Church)

Benvenuto Tisi da Garofalo painted this Allegory of Old and New Testament around 1520, depicting the theological contrast between the Synagogue—representing the Old Testament covenant—and the Church—representing the New Testament fulfillment in Christ. Such Synagogue-and-Church allegories were standard in medieval and Renaissance theological imagery, the paired figures symbolizing the supersession of the Mosaic law by the Christian dispensation in a visual form familiar from Gothic cathedral programs and Renaissance devotional painting. Garofalo's version brings the Raphaelesque compositional clarity he had developed from his Roman visits to an allegorical subject that required both formal sophistication and theological legibility. The work reflects the heightened confessional awareness of the Reformation period, when both Catholic and Protestant theologians were arguing about the relationship between the two testaments.

The allegorical composition uses paired female figures to represent the two covenants, with symbolic attributes distinguishing the Synagogue from the Church. Garofalo's balanced composition and warm palette give visual harmony to the theological argument.