Ronald Harrison was a South African artist most well-known for his 1962 painting Black Christ.

Life

Harrison began painting at the age of 16. In 1962, during South Africa's

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 apartheid era, his most famous work, Black Christ, was unveiled at St Luke's Church in the Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

 suburb of Salt River

Salt River, Cape Town

Salt River is a mainly industrial suburb of Cape Town located near Table Bay to the east of the city. It is named after a river of the same name, this being a continuation of the Black River. The name Salt River is a translation of the Dutch "Soutrivier"...

. It depicted African National Congress

African National Congress

The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...

 leader Chief Albert Luthuli as Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

 crucified, flanked by two Roman centurions, then National Party

National Party (South Africa)

The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...

 prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd and justice minister John Vorster.

As a result he was arrested and tortured by the security police. The painting was smuggled to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 after it was banned in South Africa, and was only returned in 1997.

Black Christ is currently stored at the South African National Gallery

South African National Gallery

The South African National Gallery is the national art gallery of South Africa located in Cape Town. The collection began in 1872 with the donation of Sir Thomas Butterworth's personal gallery....

 and a replica is on display at the offices of the Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...

 Foundation.

He died of cancer on the 28th of June 2011 at his nieces house in Mitchell's Plain

Mitchell's Plain

Mitchells Plain is a largely coloured township about 20 km from the city of Cape Town. It is one of South Africa's largest townships. It is located on the Cape Flats on the False Bay coast between Strandfontein and Khayelitsha...

.