Południowa Afryka - Królestwo złota i diamentów i jego ikonografia

The aim of this article is a brief introduction to the iconography of the national identity, created by the white South Africans, who are the descendants of the Dutch settlers, who are commonly known and referred to as Afrikaners in South Africa. Among the most interesting and simultaneously representative paintings and the most obvious examples that one can mention are the works done by Charles Davidson Bell (1813-1882) e.g.: Landing of van Riebeeck at the Cape of Good Hope or Zulu attack on the Voortrekker camp. A good example of a piece of art work with an air and character of a true monument-mausoleum is a monumental sculpture called the Voortrekker Monument, which was created between 1937 and 1949. This object is located in the capital of South Africa i.e. in Pretoria and it presents the events connected with the so-called Great Trek (Afrikaans: Die Groot Trek). Another very essential art work is the interior decoration of the Old Mutual building in Cape Town dating from the late 1930's. The author of the frescoes inside the building often referred to as the „Afrikaner nationalist Sistine Chapel" is Le Roux Smith (1914-1963). The outside sculpture is also connected with the iconography of Africa and it was sculptured by Ivan Mitford-Barberton (1896-1976). At present all the above-mentioned pieces of art work make up the somewhat inconvenient and embarrassing heritage of the era of apartheid.