Five Hundred Arhats No.269 · The Venerable Beyond Compare | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.269 The Venerable Beyond Compare

'Beyond compare' means the virtue is supreme, free of all relativity, with nothing to match it, beyond every comparison and distinction, excelling all with no equal; the name marks one who realizes the absolute sphere beyond comparison. The venerable looks transcendent and uniquely alone, possessing the solitude that is free of relativity, beyond compare, beyond the measure of distinction, standing clear above any peer.

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