LOW CUP IN PAINTED ENAMEL ON LIMOGES COPPER By Pierre or Martial Courteys, c. 1565–1575, depicting the self-sacrifice of Marcus Curtius In polychrome painted enamel, with gold inlays and highlights, decorated in the centre with a figure of a mounted knight in armour throwing his horse into a smoking chasm, watched by a crowd standing before some ruins. The subject is taken from Livy (VII, 6, 1–6). In 562 BC, an unbridgeable chasm opened up in the Forum. An oracle revealed that, if the city was to last for ever, it was necessary to sacrifice there the city’s most precious possession. A young and valiant Roman, Marcus Curtius, declared that Rome possessed nothing more precious than its soldiers and, mounted on his horse, rode fully armed into the chasm. This act of heroic devotion has often been depicted since the Renaissance, alongside other scenes glorifying the heroes of the Roman Republic. The rim and edge are decorated against a black background with foliage scrolls and a frieze of ovals in gilding. The reverse is decorated with scrolls, mascarons and vases adorned with flowers; the underside of the foot is adorned with small quatrefoils, stars and fleurons in gilt on a black background; the centre bears the inscription ‘COVRTOIS’ in gilt. H.: 7.5 cm (3 in.) D.: 20 cm (7 ¾ in.) A Limoges parcel-gilt and polychrome enamel cup, by Pierre or Martial Courteys, circa 1565–1575 A cup held at the Nelson Atkinson Museum of Art in Kansas City depicts the same scene, whilst another, at the British Museum (inv. WB45), with similar ornamentation and dimensions, depicts a different Roman hero, Mucius Scaevola holding his hand over a fire.