Maria Joseph Franz Anton Raphael Ritz, nicknamed Alpen-Raphael or Walliser-Raphael (17 January 1829, in

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

Canton of Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

– 11 April 1894, in Sion) was a Swiss

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

and landscape painter, associated with the

Düsseldorf School Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the seventh-largest city in Germany, with a 2022 population of 629,047. The Düssel, ...

Biography

He was the second of four children born to , a church and portrait painter, and his wife Josefa-Klara. In 1839, they moved from Brig to Sion and his mother died in 1842. He received his first drawing lessons from his father. From 1851 to 1853, he studied with his uncle, Heinrich Kaiser, who was also a church and portrait painter. His father was displeased with his interest in landscape painting and, as he had also expressed an interest in science during his secondary education, it was suggested that he pursue that course, rather than art. However, he came in contact with the Nazarene painters Paul von Deschwanden and Theodor von Deschwanden (1826–1861) and, on the basis of their advice, enrolled at the

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Blinky Palermo, Ma ...

. He was there from 1853 to 1856. His instructors included Heinrich Mücke,

Karl Ferdinand Sohn Karl Ferdinand Sohn (10 December 1805 in Berlin – 25 November 1867 in Cologne) was a German painter of the Düsseldorf school of painting. Biography He was born in Berlin and started his studies at the age of eighteen under Friedrich Wilhelm ...

Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow (7 September 1789 – 19 March 1862) was a German Romantic painter. Biography He was born in Berlin, the second son of the sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow, who gave him his first lessons in drawing. He then tur ...

and

Theodor Hildebrandt Theodor Hildebrandt (2 July 1804, Szczecin, Stettin29 September 1874, Düsseldorf) was a German artist of the Düsseldorf school of painting who specialized in literary and historical subjects. He was also a noted entomologist. Biography He was ...

. After 1860, he worked in the studios of Rudolf Jordan, who introduced him to

painting with folk life motifs. In 1862, he had his first major success when one of his works was purchased by Kaiser

Wilhelm I Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany. ...

at an exhibition in Brussels. This enabled him to open his own studio in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. He was only there for a year, however, when his father's worsening health forced him to return home and assist with the creation of several

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

s. After returning to Düsseldorf, he fell ill himself and decided to go back to Sion permanently. In the following years, he not only painted, but also wrote numerous works on biology, geology, archaeology and folklore. Many of these writings were published in the yearbooks of the Schweizer Alpen-Club, of which he was a member.Florian Hitz: ''Die Erstbesteigung des Piz Bernina. Geschichte, Vollzug und Verarbeitung einer alpinistischen Glanztat''. In: Michael Kasper, Martin Korenjak, Robert Rollinger, Andreas Rudigier (Ed.): ''Alltag – Albtraum – Abenteuer. Gebirgsüberschreitung und Gipfelsturm in der Geschichte''. Böhlau Verlag, Wien/Köln/Weimar 2015, , Pg.238
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In 1874, he stayed at a spa in Albisbrunn where he met and married Caroline Nördlinger, the daughter of an engineer from

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

. They had five children, including the mathematician and physicist,

Walther Ritz Walther Heinrich Wilhelm Ritz (22 February 1878 – 7 July 1909) was a Swiss theoretical physicist. He is most famous for his work with Johannes Rydberg on the Rydberg–Ritz combination principle. Ritz is also known for the variational method n ...

. He was later involved in the creation of the

Swiss National Museum The Swiss National Museum () is a museum in Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, adjacent to Central Station and the '' Platzspitz'' park. It is part of the ''Musée Suisse Group'', which is itself affiliated with the Federal Office of Culture ...

and was a member of several groups devoted to historical preservation. An unspecified illness began to afflict him in 1889 and it led to his death in 1894.

References

External links

Biography and works
@ SikART
Biography
@ the

Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz The ''Historical Dictionary of Switzerland'' (Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse; DHS) is an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland. It aims to present the history of Switzerland in the form of an encyclopaedia, published both on paper a ...

''Ritz, Raphael''.
In: Friedrich von Boetticher: ''Malerwerke des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte''. Vol. II, Dresden 1898, pg.444
More works by Ritz
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritz, Raphael 1829 births 1894 deaths Swiss landscape painters Swiss genre painters 19th-century Swiss artists Düsseldorf school of painting

Biography

References

Further reading

External links