Background
Raffaello Morghen was born on June 19, 1758, in Naples, Italy, apparently to a German family of engravers.
Raffaello Morghen was born on June 19, 1758, in Naples, Italy, apparently to a German family of engravers.
Morghen received his earliest instructions from his father, himself an engraver; but, to obtain more advanced training, he was placed as a pupil under the celebrated Giovanni Volpato.
He assisted this master in engraving the famous pictures of Raphael in the Vatican City, and the print which represents the miracle of Bolsena is inscribed with his name. Then he was invited to Florence to engrave the masterpieces of the Florentine Gallery.
His reputation now became so great as to induce the artists of Florence to recommend him to the grand duke as a fit person to engrave the Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci; apart, however, from the dilapidated state of the picture itself, the drawing made for Morghen was unworthy of the original, and the print, in consequence, although an admirable production, fails to convey a correct idea of the style and merit of Leonardo. Morghen's fame, however, soon extended over Europe; and the Institute of France, as a mark of their admiration of his talents, elected him an associate in 1803. In 1812 Napoleon invited him to Paris and paid him the most flattering attentions.
Amongst the most remarkable, besides those already mentioned, may be noticed the Transfiguration from Raphael, a Magdalen from Murillo, a Head of the Saviour from da Vinci, the Car of Aurora from Guido, the Hours and the Repose in Egypt from Poussin, the Prize of Diana from Domenichino, the Monument of Clement XIII from Canova, Theseus vanquishing the Minotaur, Francesco Moncado after Van Dyck, portraits of Dante, Petrarch, Leonardo, Ariosto, Tasso, and a number of other eminent men.
Raffaello Sanzio Morghen died on April 8, 1833, in Florence.
