The subject of lovers of different age enjoyed a long tradition. It was one of the favourite themes in Lutheran reform and Cranach returned to it regularly. It is a moralising scene in which a young girl robs a foolish old man, who is entirely befuddled by her charms, while she smiles and helps herself to the contents of his purse.
This work, part of the Cambó bequest, is signed and dated next to the girl’s arm with the artist’s emblem: a small dragon with its wings raised.