Five Soldiers and a Turk on Horseback

The exact meaning of this early engraving remains a mystery. At various times, scholars have suggested that it represents a band of robbers or illustrates the legend of William Tell. It may have originally been part of a larger image of the Crucifixion that Dürer abandoned, after which he salvaged what he could of the work by creating this independent scene. It may, however, simply be a fictitious scene of soldiers in conversation.