Lohan

Lohan (畫羅漢)

Liu Songnian (劉松年, fl. 1174-after 1224), Song Dynasty (960-1279)

Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 117 x 55.8 cm, National Palace Museum, Taipei

       In this painting, the lohan has long, bushy eyebrows and a prominent nose similar to the features of an Indian monk. With his cassock tied around his left shoulder, the lohan leans on a horizontal tree branch as if in deep thought. An attendant monk stands next to him with sleeves outstretched to catch a pomegranate about to be dropped by one of the gibbons in the branches. In front, two deer stand back-to-back with heads turned upward, one looking at the lohan and the other at the gibbon. The pursed lips, facial hair, and detailed wrinkles make the lohan appear quite realistic. The brushwork is also varied according to what is being depicted. The drapery lines, for example, are exceptionally fluid and even, while the artist even subdued the forms behind the halo to suggest a gauze-like effect. The same attention also went into the coloring, which is brilliantly handled with refinement and restraint, making for a masterpiece of Song Buddhist painting.