Judensau: Anti-semitism in the Reformation

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Judensau is a folk art image of Jews in obscene contact with a large sow, which is seen as an unclean animal in the Jewish religion, that appeared during the 13th century, mainly in Germany. The arrangement of Jews surrounding, suckling, and having intercourse with the animal is a blatant example of antisemitic propaganda during the Reformation. The earliest appearance of the Judensau dates to about 1210 on the underside of a choir-stall seat in 1210. Images appear mostly in carvings and sculptures on church walls where they were likely to be seen by many. With the advent of the printing press, the image started to appear more frequently in woodcut form, accompanying many antisemitic commentary in pamphlets. The facade of the Stadtkirche, in Wittenberg, contains a Judensau, from 1305. The sculpture portrays  Jews drinking from a sow's teats, as the rabbi looks under its tail and remains one of the last remaining examples of "medieval Jew baiting" in Germany. 

Credits:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judensau

http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Judensau.htm

Images:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Judensau-Wittenberg.jpg