Raphael Morghen, Italian, born Naples, - Johannes Vulpatus Caelator Eximus Ann. LXVII - n.d. - T-Shirt

This is an engraved bust portrait of Johannes Vulpatus, a master engraver shown at the age of sixty-seven, rendered in fine line work by the Italian printmaker Raphael Morghen.

Visual Elements & Composition

The image is built almost entirely from charcoal gray and near-black lines set against a warm cream paper tone. The sitter fills the centre of a rectangular plate, his head and shoulders turned to the viewer in a fur-trimmed coat and fur turban-style cap. A ruffled lace jabot draws the eye to the lower centre, and the cross-hatched shading gives the face and fabric their weight. Inscribed across the plate is the Latin legend IOHANNES VULPATUS CAELATOR EXIMIUS ANN. LXVII, which names the sitter and his age.

Meaning & Symbolism

The Latin title calls Vulpatus an eximus caelator, a distinguished engraver, so the portrait honours a craftsman rather than a courtier. Engraved portraits of artisans of this period raised the status of skilled trades, placing manual mastery alongside scholarship and high art. Morghen, active in Naples, Rome and Florence in the eighteenth century, was celebrated for translating paintings and drawings into refined engravings, and this work shows the same discipline in its delicate lines and steady, dignified expression.

Wearing the Engraving

An engraved portrait reads best at close range, where its fine lines resolve into the face and the lettering can be followed line by line. Printed across the chest of this tee, the bust stays fixed at the centre of the wearer's torso, so the Latin inscription and the sitter's steady gaze stay in view as the wearer moves through the day.