The Head of the Knight (Sculpture at the Spring or Adam's Head) is a sculpture by an unknown master, carved into a giant granite boulder and located on the territory of the former Leuchtenberg estate in Peterhof. It is an object of federal cultural heritage.

The monument is situated on the slope of a ravine near the manor house. From the house, a path passes by it towards the farm. The dimensions of the sculpture, carved from a giant boulder, are 2 x 2.2 x 1.8 meters. The traditional description of the sculpture is a human face (male), most likely a warrior. Only the upper part of the face is visible above the ground. The eyes are wide open. The lower left part of the sculpture’s face is only outlined by the master. Traces of rough processing remain. The back part of the boulder was not processed; most of it is buried in the ground.

There are also several other, smaller worked boulders in the park. The "Head" is the most famous among them. The park also contains three relatively small stone benches carved from boulders. On the shore of the Gulf of Finland, near the ruined brick building of the water-lifting machine, attributed to Andrey Stakenschneider, there is a large stone with steps carved into it and four holes, apparently made for fixing a bench. Theories about the purpose of this boulder vary—from a summer theater tribune to a boat dock; possibly, the stone served as a kind of observation platform.

There are no pre-revolutionary photographs or drawings capturing this monument. The three most popular pre-revolutionary guidebooks also omit its existence. One of the rare mentions of the monument in the 19th century is a fragment in Lewis Carroll’s "Diary of a Journey to Russia" dated August 1, 1867:

“Here we admired the smooth veil of a waterfall cascading down wide stone steps; there—a long alley descending under a canopy of climbing plants down stairs and slopes; there—a huge stone, carved in the shape of a giant head with a face and eyes, mysterious like those of a gentle sphinx, so that it seemed as if some Titan was trying to free himself from the burden of earth resting on his shoulders…”
— Lewis Carroll. Diary of a Journey to Russia in 1867. It has been suggested that the monument influenced certain episodes of the fairy tale "Through the Looking-Glass."

Public attention to the monument was drawn already in Soviet times. The Leningrad magazine "Spartak" in 1931 published a photo showing pioneers sitting on the sculpture; geographic coordinates were provided so that walking enthusiasts could find it. The article sparked great interest, and group photos from that time near the sculpture have been preserved. Among the Petersburg intelligentsia, a superstition spread—that if a creative person strokes the sculpture with their hands and drinks water from the spring flowing beneath it, inspiration will come to them.

A brief description of the monument was given in Soviet guidebooks on Peterhof. Chernoberezhnaya lists several local names for it: "Adam’s Head" (not to be confused with "Adam’s Skull," a symbolic depiction of a human skull with two crossed bones, which is a symbol of death and fearlessness in the face of it), "The Old Man," "Rusich."

In the 2000s, a large number of superficial articles appeared, attempting to speculate on interest in the monument. In Saint Petersburg in June 2014, at the Book Graphics Library as part of the Baltic Biennale of Book Art, an exhibition "About the Head" was held, featuring paintings by contemporary artists depicting the sculpture, rare photographs, and newspaper clippings.

Most researchers agree that the "Head" statue was probably carved at the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th century by an unknown sculptor. The head is not mentioned in any park inventory, and there are no documentary records of the monument’s creation at that time. It adorns a spring flowing into a stream.

The true history of the monument’s creation is unknown. It is unknown whom it depicts. There are folkloric versions of the monument’s origin, not supported by documents: The main version is that it is a statue of an ancient Russian warrior. It is mentioned that a large metal helmet, which has not survived to our time, was probably attached in a special hole (intended for fastening the vertical plate of an ancient Russian helmet protecting the nose), which exists to this day. All authors mention as a legend that this monument inspired A. S. Pushkin to create the corresponding fragment in "Ruslan and Ludmila" (the fact that in 1817, or even on July 3, 1818, the poet visited here with his friend Nikolai Raevsky is not considered proven).

Part of a monument to an unknown Swedish king, carved during the Swedish rule on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, which the Swedes, for unknown reasons, could not transport back to their homeland.

The head of Peter I, carved by a master from the Peterhof Grinding Factory because Peter baptized the daughter of this master.

Close to this version is another: Sergey Petrovich Rumyantsev, who owned the estate by 1800, decided to honor the memory of Peter I (depicted by a giant statue) and his comrade and ancestor A. I. Rumyantsev in this way. But the face of the statue did not satisfy the customer, and he ordered the statue to be buried. Sometimes in this version, the creation of the sculpture project is attributed to architect Franz Brouwer, with even the dates of its creation named—1799 or 1800. Franz Brouwer indeed worked in Peterhof on the creation of the Roman fountains.

Much less often, the initiative for creation is attributed to Emperor Paul I, who bought the estate in 1800. One version, that it is an illustration to a fragment from "Ruslan and Ludmila," appeared later than the poem was created—in the 1840s.

Fragment of the poem associated with the sculpture

Sculpture at the spring ("The Head"), panoramic view

The brave prince looks—

And sees a wonder before him.

Can I find colors and words?

Before him is a living head.

Huge eyes are embraced by sleep;

Snoring, shaking the feathered helmet,

And feathers in the dark height,

Like shadows, move, fluttering.

In its terrible beauty

Rising above the gloomy steppe,

Surrounded by silence,

Nameless desert’s guard,

It stands before Ruslan

As a formidable and misty giant.

Sources:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Голова_(скульптура)