Self-Sacrifice of Marcus Curtius

Baldung's Self-Sacrifice of Marcus Curtius from 1530 depicts the Roman legend of the young nobleman who leaped into an abyss that had opened in the Roman Forum, sacrificing himself to fulfill an oracle's requirement that Rome's most precious possession be cast into the chasm. The subject combined Roman heroism, self-sacrifice, and the spectacular visual drama of horse and rider plunging into an abyss—elements that suited Baldung's interest in subjects of violent dramatic action and his characteristic approach to the human figure in extremis. Classical Roman subjects of heroic self-sacrifice had particular resonance in the early Reformation period when civic and religious virtue were intensely discussed, and Baldung's secular mythology responded to the humanist culture of Strasbourg's educated elite. The equestrian subject also demonstrated his mastery of the horse in motion that was a standard test of academic figure painting.

The dramatic action of the leap is rendered with Baldung's characteristic energy and bold compositional sense.