Towards the end of the sixteenth century, improvements in firearms led to an increasing interest in bullet-proof shields for infantrymen. Encouraged by the experiments of Prince Maurice of Orange (1618-1625), decorated round targets like this emerged. They appear in several group portraits of Dutch militia of this period.

The surface of this target is divided into eight panels, each decorated with fantastic foliage and flowers, and with an array of creatures including snails, dragonflies, crickets, ladybirds and worms. The anonymous etcher has consequently been dubbed 'The Master of the Snails and Dragonflies'. It is now thought, however, that more than one person was involved in the production of this and similar examples.