Beham, like the other illustrious German Little Masters of the Northern Renaissance including his brother Barthel, Heinrich Aldegrever, Albrecht Altdorfer, Georg Pencz and others, made a number of prints which were used as decorative models or with decorative applications in mind.

In this case the columns appear to have been referred to and perhaps illustrated in the writings of Vitruvius (active c. 90-20 BC), a Roman writer on architecture, whose writings were highly influential during the Renaissance. The first printed version of his works appeared in the late 15th C., and the first illustrated edition in 1511. Beham's engravings may have been a way to circulate the illustrations widely, and they're an aesthetic treat regardless of their function when issued.