This panel once formed the left shutter of an altarpiece in the Benedictine abbey at Liesborn in north-west Germany. The right-hand shutter is also in the National Gallery’s collection.

This painting shows, from left to right, Saints Gregory, Maurice and Augustine. The gilded clasp that fastens Saint Gregory’s robes is decorated with the scene of the Annunciation (the moment the Archangel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary that she would conceive the son of God). Saint Maurice is dressed in armour: he was a Roman soldier. He led his legion to convert to Christianity, and they were all martyred for refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods. Maurice was often shown with Saint Exuperius, a member of the same legion, who features at the centre of the left-hand panel. The scholar Saint Augustine is on the right, holding a heart pierced by an arrow. This is a reference to his writings, in which he described how God had pierced his heart with the arrow of his love.