English:

An "idealized" representation of John Harvard, there being nothing to indicate what he had actually looked like.

The inscription below reads

John Harvard  · Founder  · 1636

Tour guides tell visitors that statue is also known as "Statue of Three Lies", the three lies being purported to be:

• Lie # 1 : This is not John Harvard's face; no picture or statue of John Harvard survived.
• Lie # 2 : John Harvard was not founder of Harvard University; it was founded two years prior to being renamed Harvard in 1638.
• Lie # 3 : The inscription says that Harvard was founded in 1638; in fact, it was founded two years earlier.

However, as explained by Harvard officials many times over the last century, (1) Many statues of historical figures are idealized, as no one knows what the person represented looked like; (2) Harvard was not the but a founder of the school, "founding" being a process that takes much time and many hands; (3) The school was begun in 1636, but John Harvard's role in its founding was played in 1638. See John Harvard statue.