This sculpture is the only wood carving by Barlach in a public collection in Britain. Although carved in 1936, it was given its allegorical title the following year in response to Hitler's notorious Degenerate 'Art' exhibition, in which Barlach was included. By the summer of 1937, nearly 400 of his works had been confiscated, through government action, from German museums. This work is typical of the figures Barlach sculpted: large, heavily robed figures alone or in pairs, symbolising an aspect of the human condition.