Five Hundred Arhats No.30 · The Venerable Kāṇadeva (Āryadeva) | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.30 The Venerable Kāṇadeva (Āryadeva)

Kāṇadeva is Āryadeva ('Noble Deva'), the foremost disciple of Nāgārjuna and a great master of the Madhyamaka tradition, whose rigorous debate refuted erroneous views. The venerable is shown with an upright, incisive look and a penetrating gaze, bearing the mettle of a dialectician who demolishes error and reveals the true.

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