Hjalmar Mörner started out as an officer, but chose an international artistic career. He spent more than ten years in Rome and became famous for his portrayals of Italian life, mainly as a graphic artist. In this unfinished painting, he tries the same motive as many contemporary German and French colleagues: robbers in Rome's depopulated surroundings. The young girl in profile to the right shows that Mörner studied masters from Italian Early Renaissance.