Five Hundred Arhats No.24 · The Venerable Śāṇavāsin | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.24 The Venerable Śāṇavāsin

Śāṇavāsin was the third patriarch in the Indian Dharma-transmission lineage, the Dharma-heir of the Venerable Ānanda, who carried on the lineage and held the robe as token of transmission. The venerable is shown in deep stillness with archaic drapery folds, bearing the composed gravity of a patriarch who continues the unbroken line.

Painted by Li Zongyi in the freehand Chinese ink (xieyi) tradition, the brushwork is fluent and the ink tones layered from dense to pale, capturing the arhat’s spirit in a few assured strokes. The blank paper itself breathes Zen; figure and spirit are one, blending monastic solemnity with the literati’s ease. Each of the Five Hundred Arhats bears its own name and practice, uniting faith, art and collectibility — an original, non-reproducible hand-painted work.

Size: approx. 100×50cm (4.5 square chi) | Traditional hand-painted Chinese ink Zen Buddhist figure painting | On paper