Ming royal descendant turned Buddhist monk painted 12 leaves of birds and flowers, sold for Rs 75 cr

Image sourced from Christies Nature's longest affair is perhaps that between birds and flowers. The birds cling to the flowers, drinking their sweet nectar like a thirsty man who has finally found water in the desert. And all the flowers ask in return is that the birds carry their seeds far and wide, allowing new life to take root. It is a relationship that has existed for centuries, one that has inspired poets, painters and storytellers across cultures.Bada Shanren was one painter who found extraordinary beauty in this seemingly ordinary relationship. His subjects were often no more than birds perched on branches, flowers in bloom, fish swimming in ponds and rocks resting in an otherwise empty landscape. Yet, he captured their essence in a way few artists could.In the early spring of 1699, Bada Shanren painted Flowers and Birds, an album of twelve ink-on-paper leaves. At 73, he had reached the height of his artistic maturity. More than three centuries later, the album made headlines when it sold for HK$61.9 million (approximately Rs 75 crore) at Christie's Hong Kong on October 27, 2026. But the story of these twelve leaves begins much earlier, with a royal descendant who abandoned...