The title of this work translates as "Ride to the Vistula." The Vistula, the principal waterway of Poland, has been involved in numerous territorial disputes between Poland, Russia, and Germany. Between 1976 and 1981 Kiefer made a number of paintings and works on paper on the theme of the Vistula. Here, the plunging horse represents Poland--her vulnerability and perhaps also the valiance of her cavalry, which was vastly outnumbered by German tanks and aircraft at the beginning of World War II, when Poland was invaded by Germany.