`The Surprise' is cut from red granite and depicts a naked woman sitting on her knees. Its title refers to a surprise which has startled the woman and made her spring backwards. This movement is the source of the work's rhythm. `The Surprise' is sculpted in a warm realistic style with a hint of Classicism. The work was erected in its present location in 1948 although it was completed already in 1925. The plaster draft of the work is in the collections of the Hämeenlinna art museum.