1211, 1212. SCENES AT A TOURNAMENT.
Domenico Morone (Veronese: 1442-1508?)
Domenico Morone was in 1493 called upon by the Veronese authorities in conjunction with Liberale (1134) to adjudicate upon an artistic dispute. It seems, therefore, that he was recognised as a leading painter of the day. This also is Vasari's estimate: Domenico, he says, was in higher repute than any other painter of Verona, Liberale alone excepted. Little, however, is known to us about Domenico. Only two pictures are known to bear his signature; one of these, a "Madonna and Child," is in the Berlin Gallery. He was the father of the better known Francesco Morone (285).
Possibly scenes from the fêtes at the marriage of Isabella d'Este and Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua.[235] Domenico Morone, called Pellacane, the dog-skinner, from his father's occupation, may have been present at the marriage ceremony, which took place in 1490; but at any rate these little pictures are of historical interest as contemporary illustrations. The scene in both is a tilt court, with its seat of honour in the middle. In the first the knights are tilting, the marquis being on his throne and the seats filled with ladies. In the second the tilting is over, courtiers and ladies are dancing in the side compartments; whilst in the centre a knight in full armour, but bareheaded, awaits his award of victory from Isabella and her husband, who are standing on the dais. There is much artistic merit in the sprightly way in which such momentary actions as that of the page going to spring over the partition in 1212 are rendered (see Times, July 24, 1886).