The “Syphilitic Man” image appeared first in this 1496 broadsheet surrounded by a Latin text educating its readers about the disease. The text was written by Dirck Ulsen[ius] (ca. 1460-1508), a Dutch a physician and humanist. The attribution of this image to the artist Albrecht Dürer, one of the most significant German artists of the Northern Renaissance, is disputed. The image, one of the first printed scientific depictions of syphilis, shows a  mercenary soldier afflicted with syphilis and highlights the concern about the syphilis outbreak of the time, likely introduced by mercenary soldiers. During the Reformations, efforts to control the spread of syphilis were closely linked to the demonization of prostitutes as spreaders of the disease.