In 2013 sculptor Marco Cianfanelli returned Nelson Mandela as a public figure to Johannesburg and specifically to the places he inhabited in the 1950s. At close to six metres, Shadow Boxing towers between Chancellor House - once Mandela and Tambo Attorneys, the first black law practice in Johannesburg - and the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court. Mandela was an avid boxer, and the sculpture was inspired by a photograph of him (taken by Drum's Bob Gosani in 1952) sparring with Jerry Moloi on the rooftop of the South African Associated Newspapers Building in downtown Johannesburg. Mandela was to spend much time in court, both as an attorney and as the accused, and in the boxer’s stance, the sculpture conveys both the defensive power and the possibility of a powerful strike. His words are etched across the concrete plinth. “In the ring, rank, age, colour, and wealth are irrelevant”.
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