Just because a work of art or a sculpture is big doesn’t make it special. While that may be true, this absolutely giant wood carving of a Lion is definitely special!
Team of 20
No one person could possibly do this on their own, and so you might not be surprised when I tell you that an entire team of people actually worked on this lion. This woodcarving was done by a team of 20 wood carving experts, and the end result shows that they are truly the masters of their craft. This team of 20 was led by Chinese sculptor and architect Dengding Rui Yao.
Largest Wood Carving
It’s likely going to become the next largest wood carving in the Guinness World Book of Records. The previous holder of the record for the largest wood carving was also done in China. That wood carving project was a tiny city carved into an entire trunk of a tree. It was 2.286 meters long, 3.075 meters high and 2.401 meters wide. However this giant lion here? This absolute unit? It’s 14.5m long, 5m high, and 4m wide. As you can see, this lion beats out the city in every dimension.
Three Years to Complete the Lion
You’d think a team of 20 woodcarvers could get this done in no time, right? But think again of the absolutely staggering proportions of this sculpture. It’s nearly 15 meters long! So, with that in mind, you might not be surprised if I told you it took Dengding Rui Yao and his team of 20 woodcarvers over three years to complete the lion wood carving project.
From Myanmar to China
The woodcarving project initially started in Myanmar, where the trunk originated from. After initial wood carving work was done there, the trunk was moved to China, where it stays now. The Lion is on prominent display in Wuhan, China.
Rough around the Edges
The lion’s head, paws, and tail have been carved into a smooth finish and (by the looks of it) covered in varnish to prevent damage from weather and damage during transportation. However, the rest of the lion’s body and torso still has the rough texture of the tree trunk from which the woodcarving came from.
Real Lion
A real lion’s size usually ranges from 1.7m to 2.5m in length. That means that this lion is nearly 9 times bigger than a real lion.
Can’t be fed
While we’re on the subject of comparing real lions to lion carvings — a male lion needs about 7 kg of meat every day. That means that feeding this monstrosity (if it were real) would take over 63 KG of meat every day. For comparison, and actual lion wights about 190kg. So, this lion could eat 4 real lions every week. Wow.
