Five Hundred Arhats No.364 · The Venerable Deva Elder | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.364 The Venerable Deva Elder

Deva is Sanskrit for 'celestial', and 'elder' means sthavira, a senior of long-standing virtue, the senior among celestials; listed among the five hundred arhats, the name signifies celestial nobility and an elder's virtue. The venerable appears as an Indian monk with a noble look; the title is kept objectively without invented deeds, conveying only his superior long-standing virtue and being the assembly's foremost.

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