As president of Argentina from 1868 to 1874, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento promoted the development of public education in his country. Sarmiento was greatly influenced by the ideas of his friend Horace Mann, an educational reformer and former member of the Massachusetts Senate, whom Sarmiento met during his travels to the United States. (A statue of Mann appears later in the Walk.) To commemorate their friendship and cooperation, the Argentine government presented this work as a gift to the City of Boston in 1973. Although the figure does not feature a dramatic pose, its bronze surface is highly textured, creating a play of light and shadow upon the surface that enlivens Sarmiento’s form. With a slightly furrowed brow, he appears to be in a state of deliberation.