Five Hundred Arhats No.183 · The Venerable Light of Virtue | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.183 The Venerable Light of Virtue

'Light of virtue' is the radiance of merit, the glow that one's accumulated virtue emits; the name marks one whose virtue-light shines everywhere, honored by gods and humans. The venerable looks warm and bright with a glow at the brow, possessing the radiance of emitting light through virtue, of renowned goodness, illumining self and others with the light of virtuous conduct.

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