A Knight at the Crossroads Metal Ornament

This design features a painting by the Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov (1848–1926), who specialised in mythological and historical subjects. It depicts a knight on horseback, a hero in a moment of reflection as he looks at a stone inscribed with the following words: "If you go straight ahead, there will be no life; there is no way forward for he who travels past, walks past or flies past." The knight is on a white horse and there is an ominous raven flying beside the stone. There are also bones and a skull scattered across the steppe. The sun is setting bright yellow on the horizon. The loneliness of the strong and heroic rider on the horse lends an epic majesty to the landscape. The original artwork was painted by Viktor Vasnetsov in 1878, and it is now housed in the Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg.