Like a Roaring Lion

By: Richard III

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Panel

Dimensions: 24in x 30in

Year: 2022

Status: Private Collection / Available

Like a Roaring Lion: The Tiger

The title and spiritual weight of Like a Roaring Lion is drawn directly from 1 Peter 5:8:

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."

This painting explores the terrifying mimicry of the adversary—a creature that possesses the ferocity of a lion but lacks its divine authority. By juxtaposing this work with the Lion of Judah, created only weeks apart, we see a profound study in the duality of light and dark. While the Lion of Judah is characterized by a calm, regal elegance and a controlled capacity for power, this "Tiger" is captured in a state of unrestrained, hollow aggression. It is the portrait of the Pretender, a being of shadows attempting to cloaking itself in the visual language of the King.

The integration of William Blake’s "The Tyger" further underscores this spiritual identity. The poem’s central question—"Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"—probes the mystery of a creator who allows for the existence of such a fierce, predatory force. In this context, the Tiger represents a "Luciferian" energy: beautiful in its geometric complexity, yet fundamentally chaotic. Even though the figure is knit together using the same stained-glass geometric forms as the Lion of Judah, the effect here is fractured rather than harmonious. The "fearful symmetry" mentioned in the text is not the symmetry of peace, but the cold, calculating design of a predator operating in the "forests of the night."

This work is a visual documentation of the Unsanctified Mirror, reflecting a state of being that is loud and imposing to mask a lack of true substance. The Tiger’s roar is not a declaration of victory, but a desperate attempt to grasp a grace it cannot reach. While the true King is composed and elegant even in his ferocity, the Tiger is a creature of the "Hollow," defined by its hunger and its distance from the light. It stands as a warning of the darkness that seeks to devour, presented in a vibrant teal and silver palette that masks its predatory intent with a haunting, artificial beauty.