Circumcision: Surgical Removal of the Foreskin

The Gothic architecture on the temple, the high priest in the bishop’s vestments and the altar turn Jesus’ circumcision at the Temple in Jerusalem into a Catholic ceremony. One of the most basic Jewish rituals, circumcision, is reinterpreted to strip it of its original meaning and give it a new Christian reading. These images show that no religious adversary was more familiar to Christians, and therefore harder to ignore, than the Jews.