The Risen Christ, Lion of Judah (VVP 08) Easter Card

Wish your family and friends a “Happy Easter” with this gorgeous card in vibrant spring colours and a traditional religious style! The composition consists of three overlapping scenes. Reading from left to right, we see: 1) The sealed tomb with its unbroken tie: The tomb is being approached by two Roman soldiers tasked to guard it. In the background, on Golgotha stand the three now empty crosses. 2) The risen Christ: Just right of centre stands the risen Lord barefoot and clad in white raiment with yellow highlights and a pink lining. In his left hand, he holds a “Resurrection Banner”. Typically, such banners are suspended from a standard or from a tall, thin cross and bear a red cross on a white field. Here, however, the cross is more a dark pink than the usual bright crimson red in keeping with the palette of the print. Christ raises his other hand, his right, in blessing with three fingers—the thumb and first two digits--pointing heavenwards and two fingers folded down. The three fingers pointing upward are an obvious reference to the Trinity; the two pointing downward, a less obvious reference to Christ’s dual natures—human and divine. At Christ’s feet, Evil in the guise of a snake slithers away in defeat. And, 3) Jerusalem: Off in the background, the sun rises over the city of Jerusalem. This scene within the scene is a visual play on words: Christ is “The Son [of God Who] rises”. That the city is square in shape and situated amid waterways suggests it is actually the “New” Jerusalem, the capital of the Messianic kingdom, the Body of Christ, the Church, Heaven on Earth. The whole composition is framed in a barbed oval surrounded with yellow and violet crocuses entwined by scrolls against a rich burgundy background. The crocus is an early spring flower denoting joy and gladness. + The text in the scrolls flanking the composition reads: “Ecce vicit Leo de Tribu Juda, radix David!”, that is, “Behold the lion of the tribe of Juda[h], the root of David, has conquered!” [Revelation 5:5] with an added “Alleluia!”. This quote is rich in associations. In Christian theology, Jesus Christ is the Lion of Judah, tracing his human lineage back through David the King to that Tribe of Israel. Furthermore, the Lion’s connection with Resurrection comes from mediaeval literature. According to stories circulated in the Middle Ages, a lion cub was brought to life by its father on the third day after its birth in an obvious parallel to the Gospels. The Belgian devotional image reproduced here dates to the late 19th century’s NeoGothic Revival, a movement in ecclesiastical art and architecture that drew on the Middle Ages for its inspiration. Even today, the association of Jesus with the lion, with sacrifice, and with resurrection lives on in popular culture through the Christ-like character of Aslan in the writings of C.S. Lewis and the films based on his books. + Image Credit (VVP 08): Antique image in chromolithography entitled Ecce vicit Leo de Tribu Juda, radix David. Alleluia! [Behold the lion of the tribe of Juda[h], the root of David, has conquered. Alleluia!] originally published by K[arel] v[an] d[e] Vyvere-Petyt, Bruges, Belgium, late 19th century, from the designer’s private collection of religious ephemera.