The image is a colourful medieval illumination which depicts three men. One of them sits on a two-step podium. He is wearing a stole embellished with crosses which identifies him as a church dignitary, and is holding two books with his left arm. With his raised right hand he is making a gesture of blessing directed at two men standing to his left. The names of the men are written above them: “Otgar episc. Moguntinius”, “Alkuin” and “Rabanus Maurus”. These inscriptions were added later and the label for the man sitting at the right is wrong: this originally represented Saint Martin, the Bishop of Tours. The bishop and Alcuin have white beards and hair which identify them as old men. Rabanus has a dark tonsure and is clearly much younger. As his teacher, Alcuin has his arm around Rabanus, who is offering the bishop a book.