Explore the abstract of this artwork.
John Harvard is a sculpture in bronze by Daniel Chester French in Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachu­setts, honoring clergyman John Harvard (1607–1638), whose deathbed
bequest to the
"schoale or Colledge"
recently undertaken by the Massachu­setts Bay Colony was so gratefully received that it was consequently ordered 
"that the
Colledge
agreed upon formerly to
bee
built at
Cambridg shalbee
called Harvard
Colledge." 
There being nothing to indicate what John Harvard had looked like, French used a Harvard student collaterally descended from an early Harvard president as inspiration.
The statue's inscription‍—‌JOHN HARVARD  •   FOUNDER  •  1638‍—‌is the subject of an arch polemic
traditionally recited for visitors,
questioning whether John Harvard justly merits the honorific founder.
According to a Harvard official, the founding of the college was not the act of one but the work of many, and
John Harvard is therefore considered not the founder, but rather a founder, of the school, though the timeliness and generosity of his contribution have made him the most honored of these.
Tourists often rub the toe of John Harvard's left shoe for luck.
John Harvard sculpture in bronze collaterally descended Harvard Yard rub Daniel Chester French arch polemic left