Lion of Judah Revived

Anyone can be canonized once their name is repeated in mind and spirit

A wall painting of the Lion of Judah painted on an abandon wall opened to a littered lot of land, St. James, Trinidad, West Indies. This work has been destroyed

This portrait of the Lion of Judah is a sample of the Rastafarian culture that exists in Trinidad and Tobago. The motif of the lion dates back to tribe of Judah from the doctrines written in the Old Testament. The artist has captured the animal at rest somewhere on the African plains. It is in the subtle way he has painted the lion, in the layering of the wash and detail of the mane. The care, the pureness in the rendering and respect for what it symbolizes says more about him, rather than the subject.

A true follower of the Rastafarian faith through his music and words is the Jamaican singer, Bob Marley. The icon of the man is painted on a wall in Sea Lots, Trinidad, West Indies.

See the Lion of Judah as thebookmann header

By my rules

This is Liz and Lincoln’s mini mart located in Aranguez, Trinidad and Tobago. Liz and Lincoln have strict rules for their customers by a permit painted in a decorative script. Around the curb where the building is located, a hand painted posting reads; No Liming (loitering) No smoking (we are speaking of weed here) and No sitting which may be directed to vagrants who may just want to rest or sleep on the pavement close by.

The mart has an unusual wall painting of a relief stone wall. Generally, the stones are varnished once they are set in the concrete, but the artist has reproduced the facade (two-dimensionally) in a lime green palette. The lion is the emblem of the store which may indicate that both Liz and Lincoln are Rastafarians. See another Rastafarian wall painting in the same vicinity as thebookmann’s header -thebookmann

Very “Dusty” Vibes

A popular and loved wall painting covered with specks of white paintThis wall painting is quite liked by thebookmann and was photographed a few years ago. But today at this spot near East Dry River, Port of Spain, the mural is beginning to weather, and soon the “Lion of Judah” and typology “Blessing To All” will be completely obscured by the wrought iron scrapping continually placed on the shed.

Sea Lots, Port of Spain a wall in trust of God

The placing of imagery related to the Rastafarian religion throughout Trinidad, and the Lion of Judah drawn and painted as an emblem of Ras Tafari, the known Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie. According to the rastafarian belief, Selassie was the Messiah, the second coming of Christ referenced in the Book of Revelation.-thebookmann See others spots at: Lavenitille Princess Town

Lion of Judah

The Sphinx, Lavenitille, Trinidad
Jamaican imagery is so common that everybody of a certain age has something in yellow, red and green. It is everywhere. Yet this specimen of the Sphinx like doubling of a lion and a man at its centre is very sensitive and appealing. The artist shows a regard for the colours of the shed and for the most prominent spot to put his painting. The lack of text and the simplicity of the drawing, particularly the use of black that defines the man’s hair that also looks like a mountain when you look at the image as a whole makes it more interesting because it is not as straight forward as it may have seemed at first. On further investigation the hair on the right and on the left of the lions are deliberately different. This purposefulness also enhances the work. The red mouths of the lions and their bared teeth tell us that the artist is using imagination, especially for the paws of the lion. There is difficulty in deciding what to do with the profile of the lions, and they look like cartoon people and less like actual lions. But overall the painting is one of the more memorable that I have seen in some time. See and a painting of Hail Salessie and thebookmann header. – Adele


An image of Bob Marley, Roar of a Lion or bands of Ethiopian identity.
Searching for our own, Trinidad and Tobago