Nelson Mandela’s health had deteriorated in recent years and the world had been preparing for his death long before this week’s announcement finally came.
The New Yorker magazine commissioned African-American artist Kadir Nelson to paint a portrait of the South African prisoner-turned-president for its next edition.
Nelson, who has written and illustrated children’s books on the lives of Mandela as well as Martin Luther King Jr, chose to depict him as a young man on trial.
“He was clearly a leader,” Kadir said. “I wanted to make a simple and bold statement about Mandela and his life as a freedom fighter.”