Harold Riley: Painting Nelson Mandela

Harold Riley was the only artist in the world given the opportunity to paint Nelson Mandela from life.

When Mandela agreed to pose for the English artist, it marked the beginning of a remarkable relationship. Over 18 months, the pair met on six occasions in South Africa, resulting in a portrait unveiled in 2005 that later raised more than $1m for children's charities when it was sold at auction in New York.

In 2025, Reena Stanton-Sharma used archive recordings of Harold Riley to tell the story behind the artist's unique access to Nelson Mandela.

Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.

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(Photo: Harold Riley and his wife Ashraf Riley with his portrait of Nelson Mandela. Credit: Stephen Lovekin/WireImage for AOL Time Warner - Corporate Communications)