Five Hundred Arhats No.198 · The Venerable Mahādeva | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.198 The Venerable Mahādeva

Mahādeva ('great deity/heaven') was a noted master in the post-Buddha period of the early councils, whose 'five points' were tied to the division of schools; listed among the five hundred arhats, the name is kept objectively to signify broad understanding that covers all like the sky, without dramatizing the sectarian disputes. The venerable has an open bearing and a grave, resolute look, possessing broad insight, tolerance of differing views and the weight of discerning the meaning of the Dharma.

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