The present composition bears witness to the inventiveness of Picasso's printmaking, which was undoubtedly encouraged and fostered by partnership with the master printer Fernand Mourlot.
The composition is probably loosely based on Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. A mysterious knight, wearing a mask and in his armour, is departing on horseback followed by his pageboy. In the background, a lady in the window is extending her arms towards him, presumably in a futile attempt to hold him back.
Picasso here used a simple black and white lithographic drawing and transformed it into a highly complex colour composition, by taking the image through eleven different states and colour variants. Experimenting with pen, brush, scraper and transfer printing, he explored the possibilities of lithography to its limits.
As with most lithographs of this period, Picasso and Mourlot printed up to five proofs of each state, which were not for publication. The final iteration of the image, such as the present impression, would then be published in an edition of fifty. Here, a background colour plate in ochre has been added to provide an inner frame to the composition and a seated young man and the extending arms of the lady make their first appearance in this final version.