Five Hundred Arhats No.368 · The Venerable Foremost in All Virtues | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.368 The Venerable Foremost in All Virtues

'Foremost in all virtues' means endowed with every virtue, the head of all virtues, gathering all merits as foremost, fully perfected in myriad virtues; the name marks one complete in virtue, the noble one of virtue. The venerable is fully graced with a warm look, possessing the warmth of complete virtue, foremost in virtue, all goods converging, exemplifying the assembly through perfect virtues.

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