Lion of Judah
The Lion of Judah is a 10-foot tall sculpture of the Biblical lion carved into the stump of a Red oak tree at the home of Sandy Rivers at 2 80th Street South in South East Lake.
After the oak was struck by lightning in 2007, its limbs were removed, leaving the tall stump in Rivers yard. Feeling a connection to the century-old tree, she did not wish to remove it from her yard. Later, having already formed the image of the stump as a sitting lion, she came across the sculpture of Andy Cummings, who often carves large pieces of wood with a chainsaw. She commissioned Cummings to create the sculpture.
The Lion of Judah represents the tribe of Judah in Jewish scripture (Genesis 49:9) and Christ in Christian allegory (Revelation 5:5). The figure appears in the Book of Revelation as the one who "hat prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof". Because of the supposed connection between the tribe of Judah and the Jewish community in Ethiopia, the lion has been used as a royal symbol, and emblazoned the royal flag of Emperor Haile Selassie, revered as the incarnation of Jah in the Rastafarian religion.
In its depiction in East Lake, the lion sits regally and allows a butterfly to alight peacefully on its paw, perhaps as an allusion to the vision of a peaceable kingdom described in the Book of Isaiah: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." (Isaiah 11:6–7)
Rivers, a self-described nature lover, suggests that the artwork combines ideas of strength and compassion. By 2017 the sculpture was cut away from the tree's roots and laid on its side.
References
- Herrera, Katie (February 17, 2011) "Lion of Judah carved into Eastlake tree." WBRC/MyFoxAL.com
- Natta, André (July 13, 2011) "A random act of art in East Lake" Dre's Ramblings"