Remarkable sculpture of Mandela

This sculpture of Nelson Mandela is the focal point of the recently opened Nelson Mandela Capture Site near Howick in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.


The remarkable sculpture, by artist Marco Cianfanelli, commemorates the 50th anniversary of Mandela’s capture by apartheid security police in August 1962 on a stretch of road near the small town of Howick. Following his capture, Mandela spent the next 27 years behind bars as Prisoner 46664.

What's remarkable about this artwork, created from a cluster of 50 laser-cut steel columns, each between 6.5 and 9.5 metres tall, is the way it resolves into a portrait of Mandela only when viewed from a very specific distance and angle.

As one approaches the site down a paved path, representing Mandela's "Long Walk to Freedom", the forest of columns gradually begins lining up to create the illusion of a flat image.

At a distance of 35 metres, this magically comes into focus as an instantly recognisable profile of the great man.