The martyrdom of Saint Erasmus (d. 303), the Bishop of Antioch, under Emperor Diocletian was particularly gruesome: his bowels were ripped out of his body using a windlass. St Maurice suffered his martyrdom as the leader of the Theban Legion. Albrecht of Brandenburg (1490–1545), the archbishop of Magdeburg, administrator of Halberstadt, and the archbishop and elector of Mainz, commissioned this panel for the Neue Stift in Halle. St Erasmus shows his characteristic traits. The painting was transferred to Aschaffenburg during the Reformation.